By Dhel Nazario

It was in March when the public first heard of the locally made testing kits for COVID-19. Being a cheaper version of its foreign counterpart, the initial public outcry was for it to be utilized immediately, just as cases in the country ballooned. The lead scientist of the project, Dr. Raul V. Destura and his team at the University of the Philippines - National Institutes Of Health (UP-NIH), began research on the testing kits as early as January when the disease became known. A Manila Healthek Inc. staff shows the COVID-19 test kit developed by experts from the Philippine Genome Center and the National institute of Health of the University of the Philippines- Manila at press conference at the University of the Philippines Diliman.
(ALVIN KASIBAN / MANILA BULLETIN) Dr. Destura is a scientist no stranger to the world of infectious diseases and has been producing rapid test kits even before the coronavirus outbreak. A Presidential Lingkod Bayan 2019 Awardee, Dr. Destura, also a molecular microbiologist, is known for developing local and less costly diagnostic kits for rapid detection of the most dreaded infectious diseases such as dengue, hepatitis and tuberculosis. Notable of these is the Biotek-M, a rapid test kit for dengue that is projected to be more affordable especially among average Filipino families that may not be able to afford the existing and sensitive yet more expensive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology. This new technology is hoped to advance the diagnostic capability of the hospitals for better management of the dengue disease. Biotek-M is currently being rolled out to three government hospitals, namely Rizal Medical Center, the National Children’s Hospital, and the Philippine Children’s Medical Center for field testing. Dr. Destura’s versatility is exhibited by the establishment of two world-class molecular biology laboratories, the Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Research Laboratory at the UP NIH and the Clinical Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory of the Medical City under his leadership. Finally on March 10, his hard work paid off when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Certificate of Exemption for the SARS CoV-2 PCR Detection Kit. The test kit is now called the GenAmplify™ Corona Virus 2019 (COVID-19) rRT PCR Detection Kit The Department of Science and Technology - National Research Council of the Philippines (DOST - NRCP), where Destura is vice president, called this "a much-awaited result of research and development (R&D) which was conducted immediately when the COVID-19 startled the whole world in January 2020." The kit was used for field testing coupled with gene sequencing at the Philippine Genome Center. The DOST also helped Dr. Destura in forming his spin-off company Manila Health Tek. On April 3, the FDA  issued the approval for the commercial use of the locally-made COVID-19 test kits. The DOST said that the COVID-19 detection kit was developed to provide accessible and affordable testing for the Filipino as a response to the growing worry on the risks posed by the infection towards public health. By utilizing a one-step multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) platform, each test is projected to cost P1320 which is significantly cheaper than its foreign counterparts. DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña cited the project as an example of solutions brought by R&D that help the country achieve its national goals and address emergencies or crises.