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Written by: Zheng Cuibi
2020-11-27 11:00
Last update date: 2020-11-27 11:00
The fourth wave of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in Hong Kong is raging. A large number of citizens have flocked to community testing centers for testing. The government announced that 5 additional testing centers will be opened this Saturday. One of the testing centers will be operated by "Xinda Biotechnology" and " "Anqiu Medical Laboratory" co-organized.
Xiangda Biotechnology is the first manufacturer of COVID-19 reagents in Hong Kong. The founder and CEO of the company, Zhao Yantao, said in an interview with "Hong Kong 01" that they sell self-developed and produced kits, which are better than the current test "gold standard". "It is more accurate, and because it saves transportation and other costs, it is cheaper than reagents in Europe and the United States.
The contractors of some testing centers once said that providing a test of 240 yuan each time may "loss".
As a biotechnology company, Xiangda has expanded its business and "crossed the boundaries" to undertake testing centers. However, Zhao Yantao confidently said that the price can still be lowered: "If the reagents are made by themselves, don’t rely on others. , Then you can calm down again."
Zhao Yantao's company has "stepped across the border", from research and development technology to production of products, and now it has expanded its business to provide services.
(Photo by Luo Guohui)
Zhao Yantao, founder and chief executive officer of Xiangda Biotechnology, said that the company's main business was cancer detection and screening. At the beginning of this year, when the new crown pneumonia was raging, it began to develop new coronavirus nucleic acid detection reagents. So far, it has developed and produced three products. , You can sample, extract, and amplify viruses, in other words cover all steps of virus detection.
In terms of sampling, Zhao Yantao pointed out that they produced a sampling kit of deep throat saliva and a swab. There is a solution in the sample bottle, which can kill the virus immediately, but the nucleic acid of the virus can still be stored at 40 degrees Celsius. 2 weeks.
The false positive rate is low
Zhao Yantao said that the company’s main product is the new coronavirus nucleic acid extraction kit, which is different from the previous "solid phase extraction technology". The "liquid phase extraction technology" they use can effectively separate viral nucleic acid from other substances, so that Laboratory personnel collected more nucleic acids, "more than 10 times more nucleic acids than the gold standard," so the test results are more accurate.
Some testing agencies will erroneously detect the new crown virus on people who are not sick. Zhao Yantao pointed out that Xiangda’s test will not have false positives. He explained that other testing agencies will adjust the sensitivity of the instrument to avoid “leakage” cases. If it is high, it may cause false positives. "It's like the night image. If you set the camera's sensitivity to a high level, you may see it clearly at night, but there may be noise. But we have more light. The machine is the nucleic acid, so there is no such problem."
The extraction reagents of Xiangda Biotechnology enable laboratory personnel to collect more nucleic acids, "10 times more nucleic acids than the gold standard."
(Photo by Luo Guohui)
Zhao Yantao holds the company's virus amplification reagents and the amplification equipment next to him.
(Photo by Luo Guohui)
As for the amplification of the virus, Zhao Yantao pointed out that the company has cooperated with a local university to develop a "key" that can more accurately match the sequence of the new coronavirus nucleic acid gene, and the accuracy is several times higher than the current method.
Zhao Yantao believes that the company’s series of products can help obtain more accurate results when testing mixed samples. Even if 5 to 10 samples are mixed for testing, the testing cost and time required are reduced. 100, and the home can make 500 to 1000 at a time; you need to use 1000 reagents to do it (1000 samples), and you can use 100 reagents after mixed inspection."
The color is the virus amplification reagent, the front is the disk containing the extracted virus nucleic acid.
(Photo by Luo Guohui)
Xiangda cooperated with "Anqiu Medical Laboratory" and undertook the testing center in Lijing. Zhao Yantao pointed out that Anqiu also used the automated extraction device developed by Xiangda. The virus extraction procedure reduced manpower. If it’s a machine, 4 or 5 people will do it, and only one person at home needs to press a button, and you can do other things.”
Zhao Yantao said that they sell their own developed and produced test kits, which are more accurate than the current "gold standard" for testing. At the same time, because they save transportation costs, they are cheaper than those in Europe and the United States.
(Photo by Luo Guohui)
At the beginning of this month, Xiangda and Anqiu were also recognized by the government as testing institutions that can issue health certificates. They provide deep throat saliva and swab testing. The testing fee depends on the time the report is collected. The 6-hour report is priced at 1,000 yuan, and 24 It only costs 800 yuan to get the report after hours, including the doctor’s consultation fee.
At present, Anqiu has the ability to test 8,000 to 10,000 samples per day. Zhao Yantao said that the testing capabilities can be improved in response to demand.
Zhao Yantao explained that in order to become a government-recognized new coronavirus testing agency, the laboratory needs to obtain the Hong Kong Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (HOKLAS) medical laboratory certification and pass the "QAP test" of the Department of Health. The Department will provide 5 to 10 For samples, after the laboratory tests the sample to be negative or positive, the department will "correct the answer". Only if the "test paper" is answered 100% correctly can the test pass.
He said that many organizations in the market do not have HOKLAS certification. Although they have passed the "QAP test", they can still provide virus testing, but they cannot issue health certificates.
From R&D technology to production, and now expanding its business to providing services, Zhao Yantao, who "crossed the boundaries", said that the company has received government funding for research and development and hopes to do its part for Hong Kong so that Hong Kong people can enjoy both cheap and high quality Detection.
He believes that the locally developed reagents contain the latest technology, and the cost is bound to be lower than that of imported goods. "It has a brand effect and needs to be transported. Some reagents need to be stored in refrigerators and shipped on dry ice. We are several times flat."
At the same time, Anqiu uses the automated extraction device developed by Xiangda to save the manpower for the virus extraction procedure.
(Provided by interviewee)
A service of 240 yuan will be provided at the testing center soon. Zhao Yantao boldly said that he will not lose money. "Because of our own production of reagents, there is no need to worry about the global rush of reagents and unstable supply." "If the reagents are made by themselves, don’t rely on them. People can be calm again."
Xiangda has been producing kits since May and June and sold them to more than 20 countries including the United States, Brazil, and India. Several laboratories in Hong Kong have also switched to use them, and sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
In just two months, the company's reagents have accounted for nearly 10% of the local market.
Zhao Yantao said that the company has the ability to produce 1 million copies of each of the three products of sampling, extraction and amplification every month. He is optimistic about the demand for future testing and is expected to break even next year.
Zhao Yantao is optimistic about the demand for testing in the future and is expected to break even next year.
(Photo by Luo Guohui)
Zhao Yantao said that the company is also focusing on the development of a rapid antigen test. The citizens can sample by themselves. The accuracy rate is 90%. The preliminary test results can be obtained within 20 minutes. The price is about 100 yuan. It is believed to attract the public to conduct more frequently. Tests make up for the high cost of nucleic acid testing and cannot be done frequently. As the second line of defense, "high-risk groups need to be tested regularly, or go to large-scale exhibitions or weddings. You can check before entering the venue. You can do it with confidence. everyone."
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