SugenTech Applies for Patent on World's First Simultaneous Testing System for 60 People Including COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] SuzenTech announced on the 13th that it has developed technology related to a large-scale automated infectious disease screening system for pneumonia, pulmonary tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases, and has filed a patent for it.

The "Multiplex Blot Assay Automation System" patented by SuzenTech is a fully automated system capable of simultaneously processing blood samples from up to 60 patients at general hospitals and screening centers to diagnose the presence of infectious diseases. When specimens such as blood from suspected patients, preprocessing reagents, and kits are loaded into the system, it automatically handles mixing of specimens and reagents, preprocessing, dispensing, and kit analysis, displaying diagnostic results in real time on a monitor.

The company explained that this technology is considered effective in situations where a large number of patients occur due to infectious diseases like COVID-19, and that many Chinese companies have shown great interest.

This patent corresponds to a next-generation automation system capable of processing proprietary reagents and kits. Since SuzenTech developed the world's first automated screening system in 2013 and has been supplying it to domestic and international diagnostic companies, the commercialization of products applying the new patented technology is expected to proceed rapidly.

A SuzenTech official stated, "The rapid diagnostic kits currently used in most hospitals have the drawback of being able to test only one suspected patient at a time," adding, "In situations like the spread of the novel coronavirus, there is an emerging need for effective disease management through automated systems that can simultaneously process specimens from multiple suspected patients at screening centers."

He continued, "Since SuzenTech was the first in the world to develop the multiplex blot assay automation system, only about two companies in Europe have succeeded in commercializing it so far, making it a product that is not easy to develop," and added, "The need is increasing in China, where a large number of patients occur as with Wuhan pneumonia, leading to inquiries from related companies and discussions on product development collaborations."

SuzenTech plans to accelerate additional development to enable large-scale processing of diagnoses for pneumonia and other infectious diseases, taking advantage of the current novel coronavirus outbreak situation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.