FDA says COVID-19 test kits from UP to undergo field testing

MANILA, Philippines — The rapid testing kits made by scientists from the University of the Philippines (UP) will be rolled out for field testing to determine if these could be manufactured in more laboratories, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Friday.

FDA Director-General Eric Domingo said the test kits from the UP National Institute of Health (NIH) were given a certificate of exemption which allows the kits to be used for field testing.

Filed testing is a process used to determine if the kits have standards of testing like those approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).

“‘Yung field testing kailangan tapos i-va-validate ito. Titingnan yung resulta kung comparable halimbawa sa ginagamit ng WHO at the same time titingnan din natin kung very accurate,” Domingo told reporters in a phone interview when asked if there are other requirements for the test kits to be approved for mass production.

(The field testing is needed then the kits would be validated. The results would look into if it would be comparable to those being used by the WHO and at the same time we would look into its accuracy.)

“At pag nakumpleto na ang datos at nakitang very valid ang test na ito at saka siya i-ro-roll out at pwede na gamitin sa mga laboratoryo,” he added.

(If the data is completed and we see that it is already validated then it would be rolled out and be used in different laboratories.)

The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa City, which conducts confirmatory tests for coronavirus disease cases, uses test kits delivered by the WHO. Results from these test kits can be obtained from 24 to 48 hours.

Meanwhile, the UP rapid test kits have a running time of 45 minutes to 2 hours.

Those being tested for the COVID-19 are people with respiratory symptoms and travel history to countries with local transmission of the disease

Edited by MUF

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