Japanese firm to produce Covid-19 test kits in Vietnam

By Phan Anh   December 21, 2020 | 10:33 pm PT
Japanese firm to produce Covid-19 test kits in Vietnam
A medical worker handles vials containing Covid-19 samples in Quang Ngai Province, central Vietnam, August 1, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Van Phong.
Japanese biotech and chemical firm Fujifilm is planning to produce Covid-19 test kits in Vietnam by expanding its production facilities in the country.

Fujifilm would invest in Fujifilm Yuwa Medical Products Vietnam Co., a joint venture that produces diagnostic agents, Vietnam News Agency reported, citing a Fujifilm official. The firm would be able to deliver two million kits a month to be sold globally, it added.

However, when exactly the kits would enter production has yet to be confirmed.

Vietnam has been producing its own Covid-19 test kits since earlier this year, utilizing techniques that detect the novel coronavirus from a person's respiratory tract and blood.

A kit produced by Vietnam Military Medical University and Viet A Technologies, with research funding from the Ministry of Science and Technology, has received CE certification and a Certificate of Free Sale from the U.K., which allows their distribution in Europe. It has also been recognized by the Emergency Use Listing procedure (EUL) of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Vietnam has recorded 1,414 Covid-19 cases so far, 107 still active. Thirty-five people have succumbed to the disease, many being elderly patients with underlying conditions like diabetes or kidney failure.

The country has recorded no community transmission in nearly a month.

 
 
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