Credits: Astro Awani, 18 March 2020, KUALA LUMPUR — Medical Innovation Ventures Sdn. Bhd. (Mediven), a company under the Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) ecosystem has produced two diagnostic kits for COVID-19 disease.
The first kit serves as a screening test for COVID-19, including influenza-like illnesses (ILI) from clinical samples.
The second kit serves as a validation test for COVID-19 as well as from clinical samples.
Previously, there was difficulty in distinguishing one disease from another because the influenza-like illnesses (ILI) cluster showed relatively similar clinical symptoms such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath.
“Through single-tube testing, GenoAmp® Real-Time RT-PCR Flu A / Flu B / SARS-Cov-2 / MERS-CoV can detect and differentiate influenza A (H1N1, H3N2), influenza B, SARS-CoV-2 (Nucleocapsid (N), RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase (RdRP), ‘Spike’ (S)) and MERS-CoV genes simultaneously using only a single sample of patients, “Mediven said in a statement.
During the second diagnostic kit, the GenoAmp® Real-Time RT-PCR SARS-Cov-2 was able to confirm COVID-19 infection through RdRp and S gene screening, and validation through the N gene from patient samples.
“The test was designed in accordance with the international protocol recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for COVID-19. A recent study published in The Lancet on January 24, 2020 reported that the S gene has a better sensitivity COVID-19 in the patient’s nasopharyngeal swab, “the statement added.
Mediven also said that these kits are preliminary screening tests that allow simultaneous detection of several viruses in just one test.
“This enables increased efficiency in the workflow, maximizes processing power and helps hospitals to detect infected patients faster and accurately,” Mediven said.
Mediven is a medical diagnostics company that develops, manufactures and markets clinical molecular diagnostic tests and rapid test kits.
