PORTABLE, AFFORDABLE PCR TEST NOW IN PHL
A Filipino company has brought in a point-of-care testing system that aims to make Covid-19 tests affordable and, more important, portable.
Don Paolo San Jose, the managing director of MOHS Analytics Inc., said the Shineway Marcus PCR Analyzer, a portable RT-PCR test, aims to bring Covid-19 testing capability closer to those who need to be tested and to complement laboratory based RT-PCR testing. MOHS Analytics Inc., is the Philippine distributor of the system.
“Being truly portable, just the size of a carry-on bag, the Shineway Marcus PCR Analyzer brings testing to where it is most needed, for example barangay hot spots, work places with a large number of employees, border controls or transportation hubs,” said San Jose. “It’s not even heavy for it weighs just like the oven toaster.”
Point-of-care test
SAN Jose said this new test will no longer hurt the pockets of Filipinos who need to return to work because the company’s goal is to make the test “as cheap as possible for Filipinos. ”
“It’s not going to be affordable. It’s going to be very affordable,” he said.
The Department of Health (DOH) has mandated that testing of Filipino workers should be done regularly as “testing negative does not guarantee immunity, and people should remain cautious even after being screened” as “his one test does not mean we are immune for life.”
“We work in that spirit of entrepreneurship... What we want to do is go
back to the real normal and mot to make money out of the hardship or burden of the people,” he stressed.
The need for point-of-care-testing was made more urgent by the requirement of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for workers in the hospitality and tourism sectors, manufacturing companies, including frontline and economic priority employees to undergo regular RT-PCR test to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the workplace.
Tourism industry
THOSE working in the tourism industry in popular destinations like El nido, Boracay, Coron and Panglao will need to be tested every four weeks. Manufacturing employees in economic zones. on the other hand, need to be tested every quarter. The tests should be done at no cost to the workers.
The Shineway Marcus PCR Analyzer provides real time results with the 99 percent accuracy of the RT-PCR, the gold standard of Covid-19 testing.
“It was designed for off-site testing and gives accurate PCR results in just 45 minutes. It is like bringing the laboratory to the frontline where it is needed and it helps reduce the backlogs in the laboratories,” San Jose said.
He, however, clarified that the portable PCR is not meant to replace the RT-PCR in laboratories but to “complement” and boost the expanded testing of the government.
By bringing the test closer to the targeted population, current delays in releasing results will be minimized.
With results available in real time, those who test positive can be quarantined immediately, thus stopping further infection. Real time results will also make contact tracing more effective.
Positivity rate
ACCORDING to official DOH data, during the week from August 9 to 15, the positivity rate or the percentage of Covid-19 tests that came out positive compared to the number of total tests taken was 13.3 percent.
This rate is way higher than the five percent standard of the World Health Organization.
The high positivity rate shows the need for more testing, even as the country has already increased the number of tests it is performing to around 30,000 a day, the highest daily number of tests in Southeast Asia. Currently, the Philippines has done a total of 2.1 million tests, higher than second placer Indonesia with 1.9 million and third-ranked Singapore with 1.6 million tests.
The increased number of tests is in line with the government’s national Action Plan Phase II which mandates targeted expanded testing. Targeted expanded testing means further increasing the number of licensed laboratories, currently numbering 108, but also bringing testing capability closer to those targeted for testing.
45 minutes result
“THE Shineway Portable PCR was designed for Point-of-care-testing and doesn’t require a laboratory,” according to Yaying Hong, VP for sales and marketing of Shenzen Shineway Technology
Corporation, the manufacturer of the system.
The point-of-care PCR system tests the swabs where they are collected, eliminating the need to transport and process live viruses, thereby enhancing safety.
Moreover, the viruses in the swabs are chemically inactivated in the VTM or Viral Transport Medium prior to processing, further enhancing the safety of the process.
By not requiring a laboratory, total setup and machine investment cost for the Shineway Marcus Analyzer will be significantly lower than a regular PCR lab. The system uses a technology proven since 2017, and has obtained various certifications, including the CE mark from Europe.
It is currently in use in the US, Italy, Sweden, norway in Europe, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Palestine and Israel in the Middle East, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Korea in Asia and in Australia.
Border control
SAN Jose shared that in Europe, authorities provided a tent at the border control where they do the portable PCR test before they allow a person inside the city. The person will just have to wait for 45 minutes for the result.
A clinical study was conducted for an eight- hour shift, a total of 342 tests were conducted.
In Italy, for 45 minutes a total of 54 tests were done while in UK 27 tests.
San Jose stressed that the system is tailor-made “because you cannot test more than what you can do.”
The Food and Drug Administration has already given its approval for the Shineway Marcus PCR Analyzer while the company is currently complying with all the requirements of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.