GeneReach Biotechnology Corp (瑞基海洋) has begun shipping its new dengue fever testing product to Panama.
The Taichung-based company specializes in applied nucleic acid detection technology, including in vitro diagnostic (IVD) devices and reagents.
It initially focused largely on aquaculture testing, but now offers pathogen detection platforms, including equipment and reagents, to multiple industries.
The dengue testing products are a major milestone in its efforts to expand the scope of its business, the firm said on Thursday.
It is also working on broadening applications of its proprietary polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing platform for livestock and pets, as well as diseases caused by the chikungunya, zika and yellow fever viruses that affect humans, it said.
When the dengue testing products are used along with POCKIT, GeneReach’s handheld diagnostic device, they provide an option for on-site testing to avoid lengthy waits for lab results, the firm said.
It said its dengue testing product is being reviewed by regulators in Taiwan as well as Indonesia and other Southeast Asian nations.
GeneReach chief executive officer Grace Chang (張曉芬) earlier this year said that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to approve the company’s dengue fever testing products in the first half of next year.
The FDA is also reviewing the company’s human-use IVD reagents, which are expected to gain medical device approvals in the first half of next year, Chang said.
According to the WHO, dengue fever is the world’s most prevalent mosquito-borne viral disease, affecting 20 million people across the globe, of which 70 percent reside in Asian nations, while Central and South American countries have been hard-hit, the company said.
GeneReach sees a large market for dengue fever products, as the lack of an effective vaccine makes testing an important facet of disease containment and prevention efforts.
GeneReach’s major customers in China and Thailand have begun requiring it to supply materials instead of finished reagents and testing products — at lower average selling prices — as a trade-off for larger shipping volumes, Chang said.
Larger customers often prefer to manufacture their own testing products from materials supplied by GeneReach, she said.
It typically takes about three years before a new market begins to yield meaningful sales contributions, she added.
GeneReach reported net losses widened by 0.7 percent annually to NT$18.67 million (US$622,126) for the first three quarters of the year, with losses of NT$0.54 per share.
Cumulative revenue for the first 10 months of this year increased 1.54 percent year-on-year to NT$129.799 million, the company’s data showed.
GeneReach shares rose 4.81 percent to NT$20.7 on Friday on the Taipei Exchange. So far this year, the stock has underperformed the TPEx Index by 16.48 percent.
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