Jump to content

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


snoop1130

Recommended Posts

b653f6b1472a9e4b0c94adef0ebe9e1f_small.jpg

 

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.

 

nnt.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 by pseudorabies
  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.






×
×
  • Create New...