Seegene develops one-stop COVID-19 testing lab on wheels; eyes MENA expansion

South Korea-based diagnostic kit maker Seegene Inc. has developed a mobile diagnostic and testing lab that offers a one-stop solution for COVID-19 testing anytime and anywhere.

Referred to as the Seegene mobile station, the lab on wheels performs mass specimen collection for various types of infectious diseases and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing -- all in one spot.

Seegene unveiled the mobile testing center earlier this week in Dubai, United Arab Emirates at the Medlab Middle East 2021, one of the world’s largest medical equipment exhibitions. 

Seegene plans to export mobile stations to the Middle East and North Africa, offering Korea's diagnostic system to countries that lack proper medical facilities.

The mobile station is made up of two areas: a section for preprocessing and specimen collection and the PCR room to amplify the collected samples. The moving lab is equipped with a ventilation system and a negative pressure system to prevent specimen contamination. 

The on-site mobile station offers kits for PCR, antigen and antibody testing. The PCR test requires extracting DNA and amplifying it to detect if there is any infection. The collected samples are delivered to a lab or a hospital that can amplify the DNA, which takes over six hours in general -- much longer than the antigen point-of-care testing (POCT), which takes about 30 minutes.

But Seegene's mobile station will drastically cut back the testing time to three and a half hours per person. 

COVID-19 TESTING AVAILABLE ANYWHERE, ANYTIME

Seegene plans to set up mobile stations in public areas such as schools, airports, military bases and event halls. The lab on wheels can be installed in different locations. It can test around 7,500 people daily.

In addition to coronavirus testing, the mobile station will also offer around 150 types of test kits to diagnose various types of infections including sexually transmitted infections such as HPV, gastrointestinal infections and respiratory infections. 

Industry watchers expect to see strong demand for Seegene's mobile station from countries such as Africa, Middle East and Latin America that have been using antigen and antibody tests which are not as accurate as PCR tests, but less expensive.

Seegene has also signed a memorandum of understanding with G42 Healthcare, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi-based technology company Group 42. The Korean diagnostic kit maker plans to export its mobile stations into the Middle East and North Africa by utilizing G42 Healthcare's network.

Write to Woo-sub Kim at duter@hankyung.com
Danbee Lee edited this article.