Freeze-dried Covid PCR test kits being developed in Singapore
Technique would simplify storage and transport requirements of the kits, removing need for refrigeration
The technique used to preserve food could prove to be a game changer in Singapore's fight against Covid-19 through the development of freeze-dried Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits, which would simplify storage and transportation requirements.
Local biotech company BioAcumen Global said the key benefit of lyophilisation, as the technique is called, is that it removes the need for refrigeration currently required for Covid-19 PCR test kits.
Freeze-dried kits can be kept at room temperature without any degradation.
BioAcumen Global officially opened its new lyophilisation facility on Tuesday. It has the capacity to freeze-dry 2,400 PCR tests a day and hopes to double this capacity soon.
Currently, the lab freeze-dries PCR kits that detect the African swine fever virus.
BioAcumen Global produces about 20,000 "wet" Covid-19 PCR test kits a day, which had obtained approval from the Health Sciences Authority in September last year.
It is currently developing its freeze-dried version of Covid-19 PCR kits. They are expected to be ready in around two months' time.
Covid-19 PCR test kits are currently shipped at low temperatures below 0 deg C. However, with a freeze-dried version of the kit, they can be transported and stored at room temperature for up to six months.
Lyophilised Covid-19 PCR test kits have been developed elsewhere, such as by US company Biomeme.
The accessibility of such kits has helped many rural communities gain access to Covid-19 PCR testing worldwide. They also facilitate decentralised PCR testing in places such as small clinics which do not have the infrastructure necessary for conventional PCR tests.
BioAcumen Global on Tuesday also inked a new partnership with biotech company LGC, Biosearch Technologies, which is headquartered in Britain. LGC, Biosearch Technologies manufactures the components in diagnostic kits.
The tie-up will stand to boost the supply chain of lyophilised kits, including those for Covid-19, and accelerate the time they take to reach the market, said Mr Jimmy Toh, director of BioAcumen Global.
LGC, Biosearch Technologies will provide the components for the kits and BioAcumen will assemble before freeze-drying them.
The freeze-dried PCR kits will be slightly more expensive than the wet versions, but it will not be an astronomical figure, Mr Toh added.
BioAcumen Global's first successful freeze-dried PCR kit is being used to detect the African swine fever virus and has been seeing commercial interest from customers around South-east Asia. Almost 200 of these African swine fever virus PCR tests will be shipped to Bangkok next week.
Beyond test kits, freeze-drying could also be used for Covid-19 vaccines.
US-based biotechnology company Arcturus Therapeutics is developing a Covid-19 vaccine with the Duke-NUS Medical School here, and looking at a freeze-dried version of its mRNA vaccine.
CLARA CHONG