Rappler
U.P. coronavirus test kits still need gov’t validation, no mass use yet
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a COVID-19 testing kit developed by the University of the Philippines (UP) that can provide results in less than two hours.
Developed by Dr. Raul Destura and his team, the GenAmplify COVID-19 detection kit costs P1,320, significantly cheaper than imported testing kits.
The Department of Health (DOH) previously stated that the UP test kit may be rolled out on Monday, March 16.
However, FDA officer-in-charge Eric Domingo clarified that the UP-NIH 2019-nCov detection kits will not yet be available for public purchase by March 16.
Field testing will be conducted to determine the validity of results, with specimens compared against findings from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and confirmed by gene sequencing at the Philippine Genome Center.
The FDA has approved the UP test kit, but it requires emergency use listing with the World Health Organization before it can be rolled out.
Topics in this story
Explore more stories about these topics.
🤖
This story was generated by AI to help you understand the key points. For more detailed coverage, please see the news articles from trusted media outlets below.
News Sources
See how different news organizations are covering this story. Below are the original articles from various Philippine news sources that contributed to this summary.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of COVID-19 test kits developed by scientists from the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Health (UPNIH), marking a significant step in the country's diagnostic capabilities.
Read more →
Hundreds of COVID-19 test kits developed by the University of the Philippines (UP) are set to undergo field testing in select hospitals across the country starting Friday.
Read more →
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri is urging the government to immediately mass-produce COVID-19 test kits developed by the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Health (UP-NIH) after they received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Read more →
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned the public against purchasing unregistered coronavirus home test kits being sold online, stating that no COVID-19 testing kits have been registered or tested by the agency.
Read more →
The Office of the President is prepared to fund the intensified production of COVID-19 test kits.
Read more →