Antigen test kits distributor LABx ready to boost testing capacity in NCR Plus

LABx Corporation, the local distributor of Lansion antigen test kits, said Tuesday it is prepared to boost the government’s testing capacity in the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus bubble while the area is under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

In a statement, LABx said Lansion fluorescence antigen test kits were approved for rollout by the Inter Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

This, after testing czar Vivencio Dizon announced that the average daily 50,000 RT-PCR tests would be augmented by 30,000 antigen tests to detect, trace and isolate more COVID-19 positive patients.

Dizon said the IATF authorized the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) to procure 500,000 sets of antigen test kits that were either validated by the World Health Organization through its Emergency Use Listing or those that passed rigorous tests by Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

According to Dizon, only three antigen brands meet government standards so far: Abbott’s Panbio, SD Biosensor and Lansion fluorescence antigen test.

Of the three brands, LABx said the latest to pass strict government scrutiny is Lansion’s COVID-19 Antigen Test Kit.

Citing the RITM’s findings dated March 12, the company said Lansion antigen test kit has an average sensitivity of 91.43% and average specificity of 97.54%, the highest among locally available antigen tests kits.

The rating is also similar, if not at par, with RT-PCR tests.

“Lansion boasts of 100% specificity in catching asymptomatic patients who are widely regarded as superspreaders,” said LABx head and former Bureau of Food and Drugs Administration chief Dr. Mike Vergara.

Apart from accuracy of test findings, Vergara said the Lansion antigen kits have “near-perfect” sensitivity at nearly half the price of RT-PCR tests.

“All have 100% specificity and are not prone to human error since a fluorescent analyzer machine reads the results using lasers,” he said.

More importantly, he said Lansion test kits can produce results in 15 minutes unlike RT-PCR, which takes 24 hours or more to determine whether a patient is positive or negative for COVID-19. —KBK, GMA News