A Korean company called iONEBIO is keen on supplying rapid detection test kits for testing Covid-19 virus. The company says its kits can give the results in 20 minutes flat.
A representative of the company told Business Line that the uniqueness of the product was that it can do 288 tests in an hour. At $35 apiece, the kits are very cost competitive, he said.
The kits are based on Real-time RT LAMP PCR (Real-time Reverse Transcription Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification) method. It is intended for use with upper and lower respiratory specimen collected from nasal swab. PCR based tests are 100 per cent accurate but they typically take a long time—2-6 hours. On other hand, some antibody based tests (IgM/IgG) are quick but are not very accurate.