Dengue diagnostic kit to be consigned in LGUs

A biotechnology startup firm manufacturing a locally developed dengue diagnostic kit is looking at local government units (LGUs) to make the gadget available in dengue hotspots.

The kit is an affordable rapid diagnostic gadget that uses the polymerase chain reaction technology to detect dengue in less than an hour.

Dr. Raul Destura, president and CEO of the Manila HealthTek Inc., said there had been inquiries from various LGUs on the procurement of the kit in their campaign against dengue.

The Department of Health (DOH) was supposed to oversee distribution of the Biotek-M Dengue Aqua Kit in Ilocos, Western Visayas and Zamboanga peninsula this year, but an epidemic of the disease broke out in August, putting the program on the back burner.

The DOH had earlier procured P21 million worth of the kits for the three regions.

The kit was one of two Filipino developed inventions that bagged a gold medal at the 46th International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva, Switzerland last year.

Destura, a member of the Department of Science and Technology National Research Council of the Philippines, received funding as head of the research and development team.

The funding was given by the DOST Grants-in-Aid program, Philippine Council for Health Research and Development and DOST Technology Innovation for Commercialization Technicom.

Destura’s Manila HealthTek is a spinoff company formed to pursue the commercialization of the dengue diagnostic technology.