Enhancing pandemic response and diagnostic readiness: A Q&A with Vitor Rocha

Cepheid was recently chosen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a National Collaborator to enhance the United States’ pandemic response. In this MLO-exclusive Q&A, Vitor Rocha, President of Cepheid discusses the impact of this contract and what it means for future outbreaks.

What does being selected as a national collaborator under this CDC IDIQ contract change for Cepheid’s diagnostic development process—especially in the earliest days of an outbreak?

As a CDC national collaborator, Cepheid is now able to act immediately when a new threat emerges. Under the IDIQ framework, we gain early access to outbreak samples, genomic sequences, and critical reference materials—resources that traditionally became available only after an outbreak was well underway. With this foundation, we can begin assay design, analytical work, and validation far earlier. The initiative also establishes preapproved agreements, regulatory pathways, and data-sharing processes that enable instant progress during a crisis. Finally, it supports rapid surge manufacturing, allowing Cepheid to scale quickly to meet emergency testing needs.

How does early access to outbreak samples and genomic data help close the diagnostic “gap” between pathogen discovery and test availability?

In the past, the lack of early access to samples and reference materials has been one of the biggest barriers to fast diagnostic development during early pathogen emergence.

By receiving samples early, we compress the entire timeline from pathogen discovery to clinical availability, reducing the period during which testing is restricted to government labs and enabling broader clinical access sooner.

For example, early sequence availability allows us to immediately start primer and probe design, computational modeling, and feasibility testing. Analytical studies can begin much earlier. Early genomic surveillance also supports the development of variant‑resilient assays that remain effective as pathogens evolve.

When paired with a widely deployed diagnostic platform, this early development work can be translated into real-world impact quickly. Because GeneXpert systems are already embedded across hospitals, laboratories, and decentralized care settings, new assays can be activated at scale—ensuring that speed in development translates into usable testing capacity when it matters most.

Cepheid played a critical role during COVID‑19 with the rapid launch of a point-of‑care PCR test. What lessons from that experience are shaping how you approach future outbreak preparedness today?

Cepheid’s experience launching the first U.S. point-of-care PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 showed what’s possible when scientific, regulatory, and operational systems move in sync. Our go-forward plans reflect what we learned:

• Ultrafast sequence-to-assay development workflows can accelerate timelines without compromising accuracy—we are investing in improving these workflows.
• Pre-established public-private partnerships are vital to our ability to immediately mobilize—we are maintaining these important relationships.
• Supply-chain resilience and surge readiness are essential to achieving decentralized testing at scale—we are continuously improving these capabilities.
• Pathogens can evolve rapidly—we must engage in surveillance and build robustly designed diagnostics to keep pace.

Health systems increasingly recognize that preparedness is not defined by individual tests, but by having a flexible diagnostic platform in place that can be rapidly adapted as new threats arise. In applying the lessons to our daily work, we can be confident our GeneXpert system and tests will continue to strengthen our nation’s diagnostics capacity, whatever comes next.