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| SolGent's coronavirus detection kit DiaPlexQ. Courtesy of EDGC |
By Ko Dong-hwan
SolGent's new coronavirus detection kit DiaPlexQ is selling worldwide with positive prospects in this time of a pandemic threat from the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The subsidiary of Korean global genome sequencing firm EDGC said Friday it had exported 5,000 kits to Vietnam and, following the country's approval based on its state lab's certification, plans to distribute more.
China and Middle Eastern countries have signed purchase contracts for about 40,000 kits, with 2,500 having arrived at hospitals in the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shenzhen.
Malaysia, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong and Jordan have also received the kits.
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| SolGent CEO Seok Do-su, left, and researchers who worked on developing DiaPlexQ. Courtesy of EDGC |
More recently, Daejeon-based SolGent has been waiting for DiaPlexQ to get CE-IVD, a certification for all in-vitro diagnostic devices sold in Europe.
With its pipeline ready for increased demand, SolGent on Feb. 27 received approval from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for domestic emergency use in Korea. The country has been hit hard by COVID-19, with 13 deaths and more than 2,000 confirmed patients as of Feb. 28.
SolGent said DiaPlexQ could confirm in just under two hours whether a person was compromised with the virus.
