The National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), led by Dr. Narong Sirilertworakun, NSTDA President, joins hands with the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, led by Prof. Banchong Mahaisavariya, M.D., President of Mahidol University, to develop a method to extract the RNA of a new species of coronavirus from samples, and a COVID-19 disease test kit based on a lamp technique.
The results will reduce imports if there is a Phase 2 of the pandemic. An MoU between the two giant science institutes was signed to ensure national progress in battling the pandemic.
Dr. Narong revealed that NSTDA is continuously conducting research for the sake of national development. In this case, NSTDA is working against time to support medical staff on the coronavirus front line.
The development of the RNA extraction method from simple virus samples as well as COVID-19 diagnostic kits in one step is called COVID-19 XO-AMP colorimetric detection kit. The project is a collaboration between National Omics Center (NOC), the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), both under the NSTDA, and the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol. Long-developed research and knowledge are thereby adopted to fight the pandemic.
The domestic RNA extraction method is comparable to other countries. This is a good sign that Thailand can reduce the cost of importing medical equipment. The COVID-19 XO-AMP colorimetric detection kit is capable of 100% specificity, 92% sensitivity, and 97% accuracy. The result is delivered in 75 seconds. It is twice as fast as the RT-PCR method and needs no expert on site to read the result. If the colour changes from violet to yellow, the patient is infected. The method is 100 times cheaper than the RT-PCR one and the solution is three times cheaper. The test kits developed by BIOTEC are 1.5 times cheaper that imported kits.
The Faculty of Tropical Medicine plans to do further research with NSTDA into the use of proteomic techniques and MALDI-TOF machines with BIOTECH. The collaboration will also develop RDT kits to detect antigens and develop negative pressure helmets.