DigitalOptic Develops Saliva-Based COVID-19 Sample Collection Tool and Rapid Diagnostic Kit

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] Digital Optic announced on the 29th that it has launched a new product for saliva-based COVID-19 clinical specimen collection in collaboration with Noble Bio.

Additionally, they have succeeded in developing a saliva collection-based rapid antigen diagnostic kit and a molecular diagnostic kit using the isothermal PCR method in partnership with rapid diagnostic company BaoFront and molecular diagnostics specialist Aptigemj.

Digital Optic is currently preparing clinical trials to verify the accuracy of the developed products, including sensitivity and specificity.

As the era transitions from COVID-19 to With-COVID, concerns have been raised that not only false positives in test results but also improper specimen collection are causing cases to be classified as 'indeterminate,' neither positive nor negative, thereby potentially promoting hidden infections.

Specimen collection for COVID-19 testing is mostly done from the oral cavity and nasopharynx, but these methods often cause pain, discomfort, rejection, and fear during collection. Recently, to overcome these issues, the U.S. FDA has been granting emergency use authorization for products using nasal specimen collection methods.

The saliva-based specimen collection kit jointly developed by Digital Optic and Noble Bio quantitatively collects saliva from the oral cavity. The specimen collection is simple and painless, allowing elderly individuals, non-medical personnel, and testers to perform non-face-to-face specimen collection by themselves, drawing attention. It can also be applied to both PCR (gene amplification) and rapid antigen tests.

A company representative explained, “Based on the completed patent application, Digital Optic and Noble Bio plan to start sales of the saliva-based specimen collection kit. Based on this, sales are expected to grow by expanding the product portfolio following existing specimen collection kits.”

They added, “Currently, Noble Bio’s Biotechnology Research Institute is conducting its own virus diagnostic performance evaluation using COVID-19 rapid diagnostic kits for broad applications in rapid antigen diagnosis and molecular diagnostics.”

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