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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider UP scientists working on production of 120,000 test kits

UP scientists working on production of 120,000 test kits

Published Apr 4, 2020 12:00 am
By Dhel Nazario As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued the approval for the commercial use of the locally-made COVID-19 test kits, Dr. Raul Destura and his team from University of the Philippines are now working on the production for 120,000 tests. 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 yesterday. The kit, which was recently allowed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is aimed to rapidly detect presence of the coronavirus in an individual. (PHOTO/ ALVIN KASIBAN) (ALVIN KASIBAN/MANILA BULLETIN) The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will be distributing 26,000 to the Philippine General Hospital, Makati Medical Center, Medical City in Pasig City, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City, Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City, and Baguio General Hospital Medical Center in Baguio City for field implementation from April 4 to April 25. The remaining 94,000 tests will be sold commercially by the Manila HealthTek Inc. "This is great news as the country aims to conduct mass testing of suspected COVID-19 cases starting on April 14. The mass testing will prioritize persons under investigation (PUIs) and persons under monitoring (PUMs), according to the Department of Health (DOH)," said DOST secretary Fortunato dela Peña. The test kit called the GenAmplify™ Corona Virus 2019 (COVID-19) rRT PCR Detection Kit is the first locally manufactured test kit for COVID-19 and was developed in collaboration with the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) and the University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH) with support from the DOST-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD). The approval issued by the FDA signals the start of its roll-out to several hospitals in and out of Metro Manila starting April 4. The COVID-19 detection kit was developed to provide accessible and affordable testing for the general population. 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.
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