A team of biologists successfully created a rapid, molecular COVID-19 test, which is also low-cost and portable. Peru’s Health Ministry is looking at using the test nationwide.
The team behind the creation of the test is composed of biologists from Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University (UPCH) and Peruvian University of Applied Sciences (UPC). Lead scientist Edward Malaga-Trillo (UPCH) states that the made-in-Peru test is a hybrid of technology used in molecular and rapid-diagnostic tests. Numerous combinations were tested before the optimal combination was found.
The scientist, in turn, has requested Peru’s national health institute (INS) provide support in obtaining patient samples in order for the ministry of health to approve the test and start its production and distribution.
Health Minister Victor Zamora said the ministry will work to expedite the process of approval and sanitary registration once the final product is finished. Because the test uses methodology from a kit that is being produced in the US, the Peruvian scientists must wait for the approval from the United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in order to move forward.
According to Zamora, Peru’s laboratories are now able to process 6,000 molecular tests per day, and 250,000 additional molecular COVID-19 tests are being shipped to Peru in the coming days.
Cover photo: Ed Málaga-Trillo/Twitter
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