Overseas Exports of COVID-19 Diagnostic Kits More Than Double

New coronavirus disease (COVID-19) diagnostic kits and related items for export to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are stored in a logistics warehouse near Incheon Airport.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] As the number of COVID-19 patients surges worldwide, exports of diagnostic kits made by domestic companies have significantly increased.

The Korea In Vitro Diagnostics Medical Device Association, composed of domestic diagnostic kit companies, announced that the total export value of diagnostic kits last month increased by 117% compared to the previous month. Previously, exports had risen by more than 18% and 50% in January and February respectively, with the recent growth rate steepening. This is due to the rapid increase in patients worldwide, including the United States, Spain, and Italy, which has led to a growing demand for diagnostic kits to identify patients.

According to the association, the total export value of diagnostic kits last year was $216.63 million, about 45% lower than in 2018. Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, domestic companies proactively started research and development, which has led to continuous global demand for Korean-made kits. GenBody, which received export approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for rapid diagnostic kits, is currently exporting 6.2 million tests to 15 countries. GC Green Cross MS and JinCast are actively collaborating by jointly developing diagnostic reagents among association member companies.

In addition, many domestic in vitro diagnostic companies such as Seasun Biomaterials, Clinomics, Genolution, and Solgent have received export approvals from authorities and are negotiating through various channels or have signed actual supply contracts. Optolane is preparing proposals for ultra-precise testing with higher sensitivity than the existing real-time PCR method and for mutation detection.

However, since foreign companies still occupy more than 90% of the domestic in vitro diagnostics market, the association emphasized the need for policy support to sustain the recent strong performance of domestic companies. Furthermore, following last year, they announced plans to soon launch programs to assist domestic in vitro diagnostic companies in entering overseas markets, including establishing official cooperative relationships with bio clusters in the United States this year as well.

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