WellsBio Exporting COVID-19 Diagnostic Kits Worth 2 Billion KRW

[Asia Economy Reporter Koh Hyung-kwang] WellsBio, a company specializing in in vitro diagnostics, recently achieved a remarkable feat by exporting COVID-19 diagnostic kits worth approximately 2 billion KRW to the South American region.

According to industry sources on the 23rd, WellsBio officially signed a contract on the 21st to export about 150,000 units of its COVID-19 diagnostic kits to Colombia. The export amount is about 2 billion KRW, which corresponds to 40% of WellsBio's last year's sales (5 billion KRW).

WellsBio is currently understood to be in export contract negotiations for COVID-19 diagnostic kits with more than 30 countries worldwide, including the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. The total volume amounts to about 10 million test kits. A WellsBio representative stated, "We are currently undergoing administrative procedures to register the COVID-19 diagnostic kit products in several countries, and visible sales are expected to be made sequentially."

WellsBio's COVID-19 diagnostic kit is a product jointly developed with its parent company, Access Bio. It obtained European certification (CE) in early last month and export approval from the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in mid-last month. At the end of last month, it also applied for emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Generally, COVID-19 diagnostic kits use RNA extracted from specimens such as nasopharyngeal swabs or sputum for testing. However, WellsBio's gene extraction kit utilizes automated equipment to simultaneously extract 96 samples without preprocessing, making the testing speed very fast, according to the company.

Recognizing this technological capability, WellsBio was selected as a participant in an emergency national project in January and is currently conducting the project "Development and Commercialization of Immunodiagnostic Kits for COVID-19 Antigen Protein Detection" in collaboration with the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology.

In particular, WellsBio's parent company, Access Bio, is a global in vitro diagnostics specialist recognized by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Access Bio holds the world's number one market share in malaria diagnostic reagents and demonstrated outstanding technological capabilities by receiving $8 million in funding from GHIF (Global Health Investment Fund), established by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2016. In February, Access Bio's influenza diagnostic kit also obtained sales approval from the U.S. FDA.

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