The Co-Producers of the coronavirus Rapid Diagnostics Test (RDT) with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Incas Diagnostic Services Ltd, are hopeful their kit will eventually be approved for use as testing becomes more critical during the pandemic.
But in the meantime, the Managing Director of Incas Diagnostics, Dr. Laud Anthony Basing, has been tempering expectations.
Though this development has been met with praise, Dr. Basing, on the Citi Breakfast Show, said he was “cautiously optimistic about” the progress made.
“…This is mainly because we have gotten to a critical stage of the product development cycle,” he said.
The kit is currently before the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) ahead of possible certification.
“They are going to look at the quality. They are going to look at whether we followed all the protocols we are supposed to follow and from there, [the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and the West African Center for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens] is going to validate it,” Dr. Basing explained
Currently, the main mode of testing in Ghana has been via the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).
The FDA has indicated that over 100 companies and institutions have approached it to import RDTs from China, South Korea, among others.
A company has also requested permission to commence local mass production of the RDT kits in partnership with a foreign partner.
RDT kits are noted to have limitations and persons who use them are still advised to go for a confirmation test using the more precise PCR tests.
“PCR will always be the gold standard however there is the need to have another test that basically augments PCR testing,” Dr. Basing, who has more than seven years’ experience in laboratory testing, reminded.
The Incas MD also volunteers for the Upper West Akim District in building capacity for laboratory workers and organizes mentorship programs for several youth groups in Kumasi.
He is the American Society for Microbiology’s Young Ambassador to Ghana, an executive member of GABMLS, a board member of Guzakuza, a firm that seeks to grow women agripreneurs, the president of YALN-Ghana, and a member of the Alliance for Young Entrepreneurs-Ghana.
About the Incas, KNUST RDT kit
This new kit by Incas Diagnostics and KNUST has been likened to the homemade kit used in testing glucose or pregnancy.
One only needs a finger-prick drop of blood from the individual to detect the two different types of antibodies produced by the body to fight off the COVID-19 infection about seven days after infection.
The testing process with this kit takes just about 15-20 minutes to perform.
It enables those tested to know their results in a relatively short time to enable decision making in real-time by health authorities.
Incas Diagnostic is a medical diagnostic development and manufacturing social enterprise located in Kumasi that provides high-quality routine and specialised medical and industrial laboratory services in healthcare and agricultural environments.