Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/07/2020
By: Wu Hsin-yun and Evelyn Kao
Taipei, May 7 (CNA) A rapid antibody test kit for COVID-19 developed by a local biomedical company that can deliver results in just 10 minutes has passed clinical trials and is ready for mass production, a company official said Thursday.
The rapid test kit for the detection of antibodies of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been validated by a comprehensive clinical study conducted by National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH). The test boasts 100 percent sensitivity and 95 percent specificity, said Cooky Chen (陳作範), chairman of Excelsior Bio-System, Inc., at an event for the presentation of the results.
The method of testing is similar to that of a pregnancy test, which uses two red lines to indicate results. Two lines indicate that the test is positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, which usually means people have had COVID-19, according to project manager Hsieh Szu-min (謝思民), an infectious disease specialist from NTUH.
Through the clinical trials, the hospital provides references to the company, including methods of execution and conducting of the testing, and offers SARS-CoV-2-positive patient samples and negative samples it has collected during the pandemic for a double-blind study to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the test, Hsieh said. [FULL STORY]
