Helping nations combat the pandemic

Testing kits of BGI land buy orders worldwide, herald diagnostics windfall

BGI Genomics, a Chinese company specializing in DNA/gene sequencing, is offering to the pandemic-stricken world its testing kits that can detect the novel coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2, quickly and efficiently.

The kits are products of its own research and development, said the Shenzhen, Guangdong province-based life sciences firm.

BGI's kits have already helped detect over 500,000 infections of the coronavirus in the domestic market. The company is now shifting its focus to overseas markets.

BGI's go-global strategy comes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic engulfing the rest of the world even as it subsides in China.

In early March, BGI announced the CE-IVD Marking and Free Sale Certificate of its detection kit.

Yin Ye, CEO of BGI, said the CE-IVD Marking allows sales of the detection kits in both the European Economic Area (known as the EEA), and the countries outside of the EEA that have not signed the Mutual Recognition Arrangement but recognize the CE-IVD approval.

According to the company, post CE-IVD Marking, it has received many sales leads. Based on real testing demands, it is now preparing to export its detection kits to the European Union countries.