Low-cost COVID-19 Testing Kits, Invented by This Filipino Scientist
A team of Filipino scientists at the University of the Philippines (UP) invented Low-cost COVID-19 testing kits amid continuous to spread worldwide.
In our previous article, the Food and Drug Administration FDA approved the use of locally-developed test kits from UP National Institutes of Health for the detection of coronavirus disease as confirmed cases continue to increase.
However, the testing tool from Japan that is currently used in the country can give the result after 24 hours. As a result, UP scientists have shortened the running time to less than two hours.
As per the report, the testing kits are much cheaper than the imported testing kits. Locally developed kits cost P1,500 cheaper compared to the imported kits costing at P20,000 to P30,000.
Meanwhile, one of the scientists behind the development of the testing kits is Dr. Raul Destura. The microbiology and biotechnology expert knew he was confronted with a tough but important mission for his fellow Filipinos.
“He already knew that this day will happen,” UP Manila Chancellor Dr. Carmencita Padilla reveals at the media briefing on UP’s reponse to COVID-19 held at the Philippine Genome Center in UP Diliman.
As early as February, Padilla was taking note of the rising number of COVID-19 cases around the world. “So when UP was summoned at the Senate and was asked what the UP-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) and UP Manila-National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH) can do, our executive director Dr. Eva Maria C. Cutiongco-dela Paz and our scientist Dr. Raul Destura already informed the Senate that we shall ready the testing kit.”
The SARS-CoV-2 PCR detection kit was developed through the funding from the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD). It took over two weeks of sleepless nights for Dr. Destura and his team of 15 UP scientists to develop it.
Known for developing low-cost, low-technology driven diagnostic platforms for the control of infectious diseases in the Philippines, Destura made the local GenAmplify as affordable as he can: it will cost only around P1,320 per test, in contrast to the foreign kit which costs around P8,500 per test.
Around 200 GenAmplify kits can be produced in a week, and enough kits are in stock now for around 6,000 tests, with more orders for around 20,000 tests already expected. These are being manufactured and stockpiled by the Manila HealthTek Inc. (MTek Inc.), a private Research & Development company with a robust diagnostic technology pipeline.
But the scientist is asking for a little more patience until they have completed the standard protocols needed in developing the technology. “Hindi puwedeng bara-bara, hindi pwedeng shortcut. Our intention is to protect the public by developing technology. Ano ba ang mga criteria na kailangang sundin? Una, sensitivity at specificity—lahat yan kailangan paulit-ulit mong gagawin,” he added.
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