Thai Health Ministry Approves Procurement of 8.5 Million Antigen Test Kits from Lepu

[snoop1130]

 

BANGKOK (NNT) - Thailand’s Public Health Ministry has approved the Government Pharmaceutical Organization’s (GPO) purchase of 8.5 million antigen test kit (ATK) sets from China’s Lepu Medical Technology, following the completion of the bidding to import the product.

 

Public Health Ministry deputy permanent secretary Dr. Sura Visetsak said the GPO can now sign a procurement contract with the winning bidder, as tests had confirmed that the kits were of an acceptable standard and the procurement process meets all necessary legal requirements.

 

He added that the quality of the product has been confirmed by all the required agencies and that there would have to be a good reason to cancel the deal now. The next step is for the GPO to sign the contract and receive the ATKs as soon as possible.

 

Meanwhile, Dr. Mongkol Kunakorn, chief of the Department of Pathology at the Faculty of Medicine of Ramathibodi Hospital at Mahidol University, said the test results at the faculty’s laboratory show that there is no significant difference between Lepu Medical Technology’s kits and other brands, which have already been tested and met the quality guidelines set by the TFDA.

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2021-08-17

 

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[Crossy]

Are these the WHO approved ones?

 

Do I need to ask?

[internationalism]

because was 50b cheaper, than the other one.

But that one is faulty, so false economy.

They will still sell them for about 300b. Hefty profit to be made

https://www.fdanews.com/articles/203939-lepu-medical-gets-fda-warning-letter-for-unapproved-covid-19-tests

Edited August 17, 2021 by internationalism

[Peabody]

Another act in the circus follies

 

[Scrotobike]

Doctors don't like them

TIT buys them....

 

Just one thing to say - brown envelopes

[ikke1959]

It is their commission that made the decision...

[pseudorabies]

1 hour ago, ikke1959 said:

It is their commission that made the decision...

That and lower sensitivity could be the reason.  A lab in Pakistan published a paper earlier this year looking at sensitivity of Lepu Medical kits and found ~50% and ~20% for nasopharyngeal and saliva samples respectively.  Well below the 90% stated by the manufacturer and in line with the FDA's letter.  Lower sensitivity would mean more false negatives and fewer positives.

 

https://virologyj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12985-021-01505-3

Edited August 17, 2021 by pseudorabies