Gangwon Supplies 'Rapid Diagnostic Kits' for COVID-19 Infection Detection Within 20 Minutes... "Emergency Approval Applications Initiated by Country"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Gangwon announced on the 18th that it will begin global supply of the rapid diagnostic kit ‘iLAMP Novel-CoV19 Detection Kit,’ which can diagnose the presence of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) within 20 minutes.

To this end, it signed a global supply contract for the rapid diagnostic kit with ‘iOneBio,’ a bio-diagnostics specialized company that developed the kit. Gangwon also agreed to hold exclusive distribution rights only in countries where it has applied for and obtained emergency approval.

Gangwon is currently discussing supply promotion with Southeast Asian countries, led by China, Thailand, and the Philippines. It also plans to expand supply to countries in Europe such as the United States, Canada, and Italy. In this regard, it will begin applying for emergency approval by country.

The rapid diagnostic kit ‘iLAMP Novel-CoV19 Detection Kit’ uses LAMP PCR (real-time reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification) to reduce the step of reverse transcribing RNA into cDNA from virus-infected samples, enabling detection of infection within 20 minutes with as little as one copy. It can quickly diagnose COVID-19 infection with a small amount of specimen and has high accuracy, allowing rapid screening diagnosis for a wide range of suspected patients.

Domestically, testing facilities, technology, and personnel are well equipped to screen a large number of confirmed cases, but many Southeast Asian countries including Japan, as well as the United States and European countries, face limitations in testing capacity, making early diagnosis and screening difficult.

The ‘iLAMP Novel-CoV19 Detection Kit’ offers simple usage and rapid diagnostic results, allowing medical institutions to diagnose quickly and conveniently. In particular, demand is expected to be high in countries where group outbreaks and suspected infection cases are rapidly increasing.

A company official stated, “The cycle of variant virus outbreaks is becoming shorter, and with changes in awareness regarding antimicrobial and infection prevention and diagnosis, market demand is expanding,” adding, “Gangwon plans to secure future growth engines and create stable growth by promoting bio new businesses alongside its core plant business.”

He continued, “Rather than new drug development, which requires long time and high costs, we plan to focus on bio-platform businesses such as healthcare based on market demand and rapid responsiveness,” and added, “In particular, we will create meaningful results by promoting new bio-related business items with high profitability.”

The supply contract with iOneBio was signed by Mosaic Holdings, the major shareholder of Gangwon, and it was agreed that Gangwon will promote the global supply of the rapid diagnostic kit. Gangwon plans to add bio-platform new businesses such as diagnostic reagent development and sales, clinical testing, and services to its business objectives through amendments to its articles of incorporation at the regular shareholders’ meeting on the 30th.

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