The National Health Research Institute (NHRI) and the National Defense Medical Center yesterday announced a prototype COVID-19 rapid diagnostic kit that can provide results in about 15 minutes.
The NHRI and the center’s Institute of Preventive Medicine used SARS-CoV antibodies produced during the SARS outbreak in 2003 and picked out one that can identify SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, to develop the rapid test kit.
After spending a month developing the test kit, the institutes yesterday in Taipei presented the prototype to pharmaceutical companies in the hope of achieving technology transfers and starting mass production.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The test works by placing a specimen taken from the mouth or nose onto a test strip, which siphons the specimen toward the antibodies on the strip, NHRI National Institute of Infectious Disease and Vaccinology Director Liao Ching-len (廖經綸) said.
As researchers have identified the coronavirus’ spike protein, if the specimen contains SARS-CoV-2, the spike protein would be caught by the antibody and two lines would appear on the test strip, indicating a positive result, he said.
The results are shown in a similar fashion to a pregnancy test — one line means negative and two lines means positive — Liao said.
The prototype has been proven to avoid cross-reaction with other viruses, including human coronaviruses OC43, 229E and NL63; adenoviruses; respiratory syncytial virus; type A influenza viruses H1N1, H5N1 and H7N9; and enterovirus 71, he said.
The prototype is not meant to replace the real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test, which is currently being used for diagnosis, he said, adding that they hope the rapid test will be used as a complementary measure to allow hospitals to screen patients rapidly and sort them, Liao said.
They also hope experienced pharmaceutical companies can join them in refining the prototype, and manufacture and release the final product for front line disease prevention, he added.
NHRI President Liang Kung-yee (梁賡義) said that the Food and Drug Administration has also launched a scheme, which grants permission for clinical trials and mass production at the same time, to shorten the duration required for a product to hit the market.
If the procedures go smoothly, the test kit could be out in three months, Liang said.
Other countries have also expressed an interest in technology transfers, but the NHRI wants to give priority to Taiwanese companies, he added.
A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company that has lost control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal said it is seeking US$2 billion of compensation in damages from Panama over its “illegal” takeover of the ports. Panama Ports Co, a unit of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings (長江和記實業), on Friday said in a statement that it is demanding the sum under international arbitration proceedings that it had already started. The Panamanian government last week seized control of the Balboa and Cristobal ports on each end of the Panama Canal, after the country’s Supreme Court declared earlier that a concession allowing
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
RSS