Hong Kong biotech start-up at forefront of coronavirus fourth wave ‘firefight’ aims to increase rapid test kit output to meet surging demand
- Phase Scientific plans to raise monthly output from 500,000 tests currently to 2 million next month and 10 million by the second quarter of next year
- The company, backed by the likes of Bill Gates and the US government, has applied to the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorisation
Hong Kong-based medical diagnostics start-up Phase Scientific aims to quadruple the monthly production of its self-developed rapid Covid-19 test by next month to cope with surging demand.
It plans to raise its monthly output from 500,000 tests currently to 2 million next month and 10 million by the second quarter of next year, which will allow it to also meet orders from overseas, many of them from Europe, said chairman Ricky Chiu Yin-to.
The company, whose backers include Bill Gates and the United States government, has also applied to the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorisation, which is expected in the next three months.
The company’s rapid on-the-spot test kits, which can give results within 20 minutes, and the more accurate RT-PCR laboratory test, which takes a few hours, have helped “firefight” Hong Kong’s fourth wave of coronavirus infections, Chiu said.
“[Our] firefighting model allows us to quickly isolate confirmed cases and help authorities make faster decisions”, which minimises the number of people that need to be isolated, he said in an interview.
A major private hospital, which he declined to name because of business confidentiality, has since November been offering Phase’s rapid test to all patients waiting to be admitted. Having the rapid test means they can be settled in their rooms quickly, instead of having to wait for three hours for the results of the PCR test, which is also done with the same sample.
“Recently, our rapid test was used on everyone on one whole floor of the hospital after a small outbreak was caused by a Covid-infected visitor. One nurse was found to be infected,” Chiu said. “Now the hospital’s more than 3,000 staff use our test on a weekly basis, and it is mandatory for all visitors.”
Phase’s rapid and PCR tests have also been used by staff at a supermarket, and residents in three housing estates in Kowloon and Sha Tin hit by recent Covid-19 outbreaks.
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It says its rapid test is 90 to 95 per cent accurate for positive infections. For the more than 10,000 samples collected from the hospital so far, the rapid tests have fully matched the PCR tests — considered the gold standard — for positive infections. “False positive” readings were found in 0.2 per cent of those who took the rapid tests, Chiu said.
PCR tests can detect the virus even in patients with lower viral loads, but are too expensive and time-consuming to be used frequently.
Phase said it has been receiving orders for the rapid test from private venues, and it is expecting demand from theme parks, conference organisers and transport companies. It has also been selling the kit through a large pharmacy chain, a supermarket and its own website, for HK$120 (US$15.50) each.
“Our pricing gives us an edge in the market. Demand is so brisk that all the stock is taken as soon as we produce a weekly batch,” Chiu said, adding that Phase planned to boost its headcount to 80-100 staff next year from 60 currently.
Among its competitors, US-based Abbott won emergency use authorisation in late August from the US FDA for a nasal swab rapid Covid-19 test that provides results in 15 minutes. It claims 97.1 per cent accuracy for positive infections, and has priced its kit at US$25 for the home use market.
Netherlands-based Qiagen launched its nasal swab antigen test in the US last month, and said it could provide results in two to 15 minutes. The company was targeting settings such as airports and stadiums and claimed an accuracy of at least 90 per cent for positive infections.
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Phase aims to close a US$30 million Series A private-equity fundraising round in a few months’ time, after raising US$25 million from backers that include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, US government agencies the National Science Foundation and National Institute of Health, and Joseph Tam, founder of Hong Kong-based test laboratory DiagCor Bioscience.
