Development of 4 variants of diagnostic kits including UK and South Africa
Large-volume PCR test for suspected patients completed within 2 hours
With the COVID-19 mutation spreading to more than 70 countries around the world, Seegene, a domestic molecular diagnostic company, developed a diagnostic kit that can identify major mutant viruses at once with its own technology.
Seegene is suitable for four types of viruses: ▲Existing coronavirus ▲Corona 19 virus mutation from UK ▲Corona 19 virus mutation from South Africa ▲Other mutations (from Japan, Brazil, etc.) and new types of new mutations The company announced on the 1st that it will develop a diagnostic kit that detects in one test and release it to the global market quickly.
Seegene’s newly developed product is’Allplex™ SARS-CoV-2 Variants Ⅰ Assay’, a new concept multiplex diagnostic product that can detect and distinguish not only the existing Corona 19 virus gene, but also multiple Corona 19 mutant virus genes with a single test. . Seegene’s own patented technology and know-how technology that accurately detects mutations in viral genes are applied to identify mutant virus species with high accuracy. In addition, a unique patented technology that can detect multiple target mutant viruses at once based on artificial intelligence (AI) oligo design technology was applied.
An official from Seegen said, “As the Corona 19 virus has a wide variety of mutations and its spreading speed is fast, an innovative diagnostic kit that can distinguish multiple mutations with a single test will be able to contribute to blocking the spread of mutations.” “It is a feature of the product that not only the known British and South African mutations, but also the occurrence of another type of mutant virus,” he said.
In fact, according to NERVTAG, a respiratory virus advisory group composed of experts in infectious diseases in the UK, mutations originating in the UK are reported to be 71% faster on average than the existing Corona 19 virus. For this reason, it is important to quickly identify the mutant virus type and respond appropriately.
According to data released recently by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in South Africa, it is known that mutant viruses originating in South Africa are highly likely to neutralize the vaccine’s effectiveness. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately and quickly determine the type of mutant virus in order to confirm the vaccine effectiveness and to develop a vaccine suitable for a new mutant virus.
Until now, the diagnosis of Corona 19 has been made by determining whether a virus is infected or whether an antibody is formed through a PCR test or an antigen/antibody test method. It is possible to know whether it is infected with Corona 19, but it is difficult to establish measures to prevent the spread of the mutation quickly because it is not known whether the virus has mutated.
In particular, in the case of rapid antigen/antibody testing, it is currently very difficult to distinguish technically whether a virus has mutated. In addition, although the PCR test method is the only one that can distinguish the presence or absence of mutations, it is difficult to distinguish several types of mutant viruses with a single test using a general PCR method.
In addition, the current gene sequencing (sequencing) method, which is performed secondarily after a PCR test to determine whether mutations in confirmed patients with Corona 9 have occurred, takes a lot of time to analyze itself, and it is impossible to perform a large-scale test at a time, so mutations spread It is a reality that there is a limit to early blocking. On the other hand, Seegene’s new diagnostic kit can complete a large-volume automatic PCR test for suspected patients within 2 hours from the beginning.
Seegene has been using the’in silico corona 19 virus surveillance system’, Seegen’s unique AI-based automatic analysis system for Corona 19 genes, from January of last year, when the Corona 19 virus occurred. 19 The information on the outbreak of the mutant virus is regularly and quickly monitored.
An official from Seegen said, “According to the recent WHO announcement, the COVID-19 mutation from the UK has already been found in 70 countries around the world, and the mutation from South Africa has spread to 31 countries, increasing by 8 countries from a week ago.” In order to prevent this from happening, we are trying to fulfill our responsibilities as a global molecular diagnostic company by providing this product to government agencies in each country.
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