The University of the Philippines National Institute of Health (UP NIH) scientists has finally secured a green light from the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use the SARS-CoV-2 PCR Detection Kit. The FDA’s approval came after a month it was developed which can give results in less than two hours, FDA said.
The test kits are now ready for field testing coupled with gene sequencing at the Philippines Genome Center. FDA claimed that the newly developed testing kit has a faster running time for giving the result.
The testing tool from Japan which is currently in used for diagnosing COVID-19 has a running time of 24 hours, FDA Director General Eric Domingo said in an interview on Unang Balita.
He also added that the UP-developed test kits only costs P1,500 unlike the imported ones that costs around P20,000 to P30,000 good for 25 test.
Domingo said they also advised the developers to ramp up the production of the test kits that would be used in the field. “Sa ngayon kaya nila ang 2,000 kits a week na tuloy tuloy. Ang sinasabi namin, baka kailangan nila na i-ramp up pa nila, doblehin pa ito o higit pa.”
Detection kit for COVID-19 developed by UP scientists in February approved by FDA to be used to test samples of the disease in the country. Still waiting for advisory from DOH.— UP Office of the Student Regent (@uposr) March 10, 2020
We urge the UP community & the public to call for funding for immediate, pro-people healthcare now! pic.twitter.com/MsObaP9y2E
“This will provide our laboratories with technological reinforcement to accommodate the growing number of patients to be tested and aid in early screening of positive cases. Furthermore, this will provide greater access to a less costly diagnostic procedure,” the FDA chief added.
The Philippines is now on a Public health Emergency Code Red status following reports of local transmission of the COVID-19.
As of this writing, the Philippines has recorded 52 confirmed cases and 5 fatalities - one of them is a Chinese tourist.
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