Jinaine Pharmaceutics Licenses COVID-19 '5-Second Diagnostic Technology'... "Rapid Steps Toward Commercialization"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Jinain Pharmaceutical has secured a new technology that can diagnose COVID-19 in just 5 seconds. Jinain Pharmaceutical is expected to commercialize the world's first ultra-fast COVID-19 diagnostic device using a DNA biosensor through this technology.

On the 21st, Jinain Pharmaceutical announced that it had licensed the ‘Reusable Rapid DNA Biosensor Technology for On-site Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2’ from the Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundations of Ajou University and Kwangwoon University. Through this technology transfer contract, Jinain Pharmaceutical has secured all technologies and patent rights related to the DNA biosensor.

The COVID-19 diagnostic technology using a DNA biosensor is a new technology that does not require a gene amplification process and can accurately diagnose COVID-19 on-site in just 5 seconds. It was jointly developed by a research team including Professor Kim Joo-hee of Ajou University College of Pharmacy, Professor Park Sung-joon of Ajou University Department of Electronic Engineering, and Professor Kim Nam-young of Kwangwoon University Department of Electronic Engineering. The related research paper has already been published in ‘Biosensors and Bioelectronics,’ a top international journal in the field of analytical chemistry, confirming its technological excellence.

The DNA biosensor uses a gene detection method based on the specific nucleotide sequence of the coronavirus, which is the principle of PCR testing, and employs a ‘probe DNA’ that binds to the coronavirus DNA. When the two DNA strands bind to form a double strand or remain single-stranded without binding, the capacitance differs slightly, and the biosensor can distinguish this difference. Since the DNA binding reaction occurs in a very short time, the infection status can be determined immediately after applying the sample to the sensor, enabling ultra-fast diagnosis.

The developed device’s most notable feature is its sensitivity, capable of analyzing DNA concentrations as low as 50 nM (nanomolar) without a gene amplification process. Therefore, it has high reliability and accuracy, capable of analyzing DNA concentrations at the level of asymptomatic and latent patients. It also has specificity sufficient to distinguish between the ‘SARS virus’ and the ‘coronavirus,’ which differ in only four gene sequences. Compared to conventional PCR and RT-PCR tests, which take several hours to produce results, this diagnostic technology is simpler, faster in analysis time, and is evaluated to have much higher accuracy, according to the company.

With the completion of the technology transfer, Jinain Pharmaceutical plans to accelerate clinical trials on actual patients and obtain approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The company explained that the clinical trials, which do not require implantation, oral administration, or injections, are expected to be completed soon.

A company official stated, “The DNA biosensor technology was adopted by a world-class journal with an SCI paper impact factor of 10.257 (2019), ranking first among 86 journals in the field of analytical chemistry, and is globally recognized for its technological excellence.” He added, “We have already started various tasks such as clinical trials and registration with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, aiming to bring the commercialization timeline forward as much as possible.”

Jinain Pharmaceutical plans to develop products in small kit forms such as DNA molecular diagnostic kits and DNA self-diagnostic kits. Since large-scale facilities for gene amplification are not required and the device can be reused more than five times through oxygen plasma surface cleaning, it is expected to drastically reduce costs compared to PCR testing.

Jinain Pharmaceutical intends to expand the biosensor technology to various fields. The acquired technology is a core sensor platform capable of detecting not only DNA but also various biomaterials, making it applicable to biomaterial detection and biomonitoring. Given the shortening cycle of new virus outbreaks, Jinain Pharmaceutical plans to apply the technology not only to COVID-19 but also to early diagnosis of various diseases.

A company official said, “The 5-second diagnostic kit that Jinain Pharmaceutical is promoting for commercialization can quickly and easily diagnose infection status on-site, and we expect market demand to increase explosively.”

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