• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
NewslettersThe Capsule

A tale of tradeoffs for a new type of coronavirus test

By
Sy Mukherjee
Sy Mukherjee
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Sy Mukherjee
Sy Mukherjee
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 23, 2020, 12:44 PM ET

This is the web version of The Capsule, a daily newsletter monitoring advances in health care and biopharma. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.

Good afternoon, readers.

I’m juggling a few things, so I’m afraid I’ll have to leave you with a short one. But I wanted to highlight a story by my colleague David Meyer on a new type of coronavirus test that’s been deployed in France.

Traditional COVID tests—not the blood tests for antibodies, but the ones for an active case of the disease—aren’t exactly fun. You get to have a swab shoved deep into your nose to collect a sample. That sample then has to be sent to a lab where it’s run through a machine that can conduct so-called PCR chain tests, analyzed, and then sent back.

The turnaround times are far from ideal during a surge in American cases. COVID diagnostics are a time-consuming process weighed down by logistics issues and supply chain constraints. But a new platform being built by the Hospital La Croix-Rousse (HCL) in Lyon, France could potentially return results in mere minutes.

The hospital’s research chief compares the process to a classic breathalyzer test—fitting given that COVID is a largely respiratory illness. “The machine will register the molecules in the exhaled air and then detects the traces of the sickness,” said Christian George in an interview with Reuters.

Just one problem: The machine involved is a beast that weighs in at 350 pounds and costs close to half a million dollars.

It’s a tale of tradeoffs. Versatility, timeliness, accuracy, and cost can have inverse relationships.

Read on for the day’s news.

Sy Mukherjee
sayak.mukherjee@fortune.com
@the_sy_guy

DIGITAL HEALTH

Lasers, but for COVID. Speaking of intriguing COVID technologies, FierceBiotech reports on Adarza Biosystems' efforts to use lasers, light, and reflective coating to detect various kinds of coronavirus antibodies. The science is pretty wonky but fascinating. But Adarza's main pitch is that it can be used to detect a wider swath antigens (those pesky proteins associated with an infection which protective antibodies latch on to) that other types of COVID-19 antibody tests cannot. (FierceBiotech)

INDICATIONS

Roche earnings hit by pandemic. Swiss drug giant Roche on Thursday reported a fall in net profits for the first half of 2020 compared to the same period one year ago (to the tune of $630 million by current exchange rates). And the company is pointing the finger at lingering problems from the global pandemic, including travel restrictions, canceled patient visits to hospitals, and consumer reticence to physically visit pharmacies to get their prescriptions. (MarketWatch)

THE BIG PICTURE

4 million. The U.S. creeped up on 4 million confirmed coronavirus cases across the nation on Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins. That's nearly double the number of reported cases in Brazil, and more than triple the number in India (the latter nation has more than four times the population of the United States). Case counts don't paint the full picture, as readers have pointed out, but they are a leading indicator of what might happen to hospital capacity and the number of deaths in the coming weeks and months. (Johns Hopkins)

REQUIRED READING

33 states have instituted COVID quarantines, by Jeff John Roberts

How the pandemic is threatening the U.S. dollar, by Veta Chan

4 ways businesses can adapt to a changing supply chain environment, by Anne Sraders

Sign up for other Fortune newsletters.

About the Author
By Sy Mukherjee
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Newsletters

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Newsletters

The startup that wants to give surgeons X-ray vision
NewslettersTerm Sheet
The startup that wants to give surgeons X-ray vision
By Allie GarfinkleApril 30, 2026
2 hours ago
Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian at Fortune Brainstorm AI 2025 in San Francisco. (Photo: Stuart Isett/Fortune)
NewslettersFortune Tech
Google Cloud is almost one-fifth of Alphabet’s business
By Andrew NuscaApril 30, 2026
3 hours ago
The $665 billion question: Will Big Tech’s AI gamble pay off?
NewslettersCEO Daily
The $665 billion question: Will Big Tech’s AI gamble pay off?
By Diane BradyApril 30, 2026
5 hours ago
How JPMorgan’s CIO is reshaping work at the bank with a $19.8 billion annual tech and AI budget
NewslettersCIO Intelligence
How JPMorgan’s CIO is reshaping work at the bank with a $19.8 billion annual tech and AI budget
By John KellApril 29, 2026
21 hours ago
They want their teams to win. The Liberty and Nets owners are funding scientific breakthroughs on human health that only billionaire philanthropy can  achieve
NewslettersMPW Daily
They want their teams to win. The Liberty and Nets owners are funding scientific breakthroughs on human health that only billionaire philanthropy can achieve
By Emma HinchliffeApril 29, 2026
21 hours ago
OpenAI is ‘strongly positioned,’ says Wedbush’s Dan Ives
NewslettersCFO Daily
OpenAI is ‘strongly positioned,’ says Wedbush’s Dan Ives
By Sheryl EstradaApril 29, 2026
1 day ago

Most Popular

Apple cofounder Ronald Wayne—whose stake would be worth up to $400 billion had he not sold it in 1976—says that at 91, he has no regrets
Success
Apple cofounder Ronald Wayne—whose stake would be worth up to $400 billion had he not sold it in 1976—says that at 91, he has no regrets
By Preston ForeApril 27, 2026
3 days ago
Jamie Dimon gets candid about national debt: ‘There will be a bond crisis, and then we’ll have to deal with it’
Economy
Jamie Dimon gets candid about national debt: ‘There will be a bond crisis, and then we’ll have to deal with it’
By Eleanor PringleApril 29, 2026
1 day ago
‘They left me no choice’: Powell isn’t going anywhere—blocking Trump from another Fed appointee
Banking
‘They left me no choice’: Powell isn’t going anywhere—blocking Trump from another Fed appointee
By Eva RoytburgApril 29, 2026
19 hours ago
‘The cost of compute is far beyond the costs of the employees’: Nvidia executive says right now AI is more expensive than paying human workers
AI
‘The cost of compute is far beyond the costs of the employees’: Nvidia executive says right now AI is more expensive than paying human workers
By Sasha RogelbergApril 28, 2026
2 days ago
‘Take the money and run’: Johns Hopkins economist Steve Hanke on why the UAE quit OPEC
Energy
‘Take the money and run’: Johns Hopkins economist Steve Hanke on why the UAE quit OPEC
By Shawn TullyApril 29, 2026
1 day ago
More than two-thirds of U.S. schools say they’re unable to afford the cost of student free lunch—and MAHA’s dietary guidelines may make it worse
Economy
More than two-thirds of U.S. schools say they’re unable to afford the cost of student free lunch—and MAHA’s dietary guidelines may make it worse
By Sasha RogelbergApril 29, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.