Coronavirus: Philippines’ locally-developed $26 test kit approved
April 17, 2020 · By Jay Hilotin, Assistant Editor for gulfnews.com
The SARS CoV-2 detection kit was developed by a group of 15 scientists from the Philippine Genome Center and the University of the Philippines Manila’s National Institutes of Health.
Dubai: Authorities in the Philippines have approved on Friday the use of a COVID-19 testing kit developed by Filipino scientists following the completion of its field validation test on April 1, Tuesday.
The Food and Drug Administration Philippines (FDA), was expected to issue the Certificate of Product Registration (CPR) for GenAmplify Corona Virus 2019 (COVID-19) rRT PCR Detection Kit on Friday, April 3.
A green light for the rollout of the local test kit, which costs about one-sixth compared to imported kits, was expected on Saturday, April 4, according to the University of the Philippines (UP), in a Facebook post.
RT-PCR stands for reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, a gene based test for coronavirus marker that’s more reliable compared to quick tests. By definition, RT-PCR tests also yields less “false negative” results that characterise available rapid test kits that only look for the presence of antibodies in human blood.
The Filipino-developed kit has also been dubbed as “cheaper, quicker.”
“The test kits are expected to be cheaper and quicker in delivering results compared to foreign counterparts,” a post by the UP Student Regent states.
“A number of testing kits, which can do up to 26,000 tests, will be distributed for field implementation from April 4 to 25. Currently in production are testing kits that can accommodate up to 120,000 tests,” it added.
The field implementation is funded by Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH) Project.
“We urge everyone to unite in calling for the ensured conduct of mass testing and for the national government to truly support this project,” the post added.
A team of scientists from the Philippine Genome Center and the University of the Philippines Manila’s National Institutes of Health developed the GenAmplify COVID-19 rRT-PCR detection kit.
It was the same team that developed the “Lab-in-a-Mug” test kits for dengue.
Leading the core team of 15 members was “the conductor of the symphony”, according to a CNN report.
Dr. Raul V. Destura, a microbiologist and infectious disease specialist, currently serves as the deputy executive director of the Philippine Genome Center. His research is geared towards “developing low-cost technologies for the control of infectious diseases in the Philippines and the generation of new knowledge to find sustainable and equitable solutions to disease of poverty.”
Dr. Destura believes that it is his and his colleagues’ responsibility to assist the efforts of the government in providing technology to help our nation, as well as develop technologies to aid in the labor of our frontliners in times of crisis such as the COVID-19 outbreak.
“It was not easy. But we did what we could because we wanted to find a solution for our people, t address the needs of our country,” he told the channel in Filipino language.
Destura adds that their team’s intention is to remind fellow Filipino scientists to “dream bigger.”
In January, immediately after scientists from China released the whole genome sequence of the virus and disseminated the information to scientists in other countries, the team started developing the test kit.
Dr Destura said all research organizations from across the globe who had the information started on the same foot and were provided with the same timeline to address the needs of their respective countries.
