What you need to know about the COVID-19 test kits developed in UP
It is an undeniable fact that the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has brought forth serious threat to millions of lives all over the world since the beginning of year 2020. With the recent figures about this pandemic, is the Philippines getting close to the clear yet?
In a recent interview with GMA's morning show Unang Hirit, Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire discussed some updates regarding the current status of the country as it battles against COVID-19. She also tackled the availability of the test kits developed by University of the Philippines that have been already approved for commercial use.
UP-developed test kits / Source: gmanetwork.com
Green light
After long months of waiting, the GenAmplify v2 test kits developed by University of the Philippines (UP) have received the green light from DOH for commercial use since its first test run in April.
The said test kits were approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with special certification and were validated by Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
"Nag-start po tayong makipagtulungan sa Manila HealthTek nung April para i-validate ang test kits nila [UP], and we found deficiencies which they fixed for the version 2," Vergeire stated.
Low Cost
GenAmplify v2 aims to make COVID-19 testing accessible with its low-cost price, approximately costing half the price of the existing brands in the market.
These local geniuses were able to offer GenAmplify testing kits--which are six times much affordable than its foreign counterpart.
“We, at the DOH and DOST-PCHRD (Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development), are proud of our homegrown scientists who continue to use their talent to benefit not only the Filipino people but the rest of humanity as well,” ends Vergeire.
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