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Singapore, 9 Nov. (PTI) A kit invented by Singapore researchers to detect if someone has antibodies that neutralize the coronavirus became the first of its kind to receive clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to a media report on Monday. .
The FDA said on its website last Friday that it has given permission for the emergency use of the kit, known as the cPass, the Straits Times reported on Monday.
The kit was invented by a team led by Professor Wang Linfa, Director of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Program at Duke-National University in Singapore, and developed in collaboration with the biotech company GenScript Biotech Corporation and the Agency for Science, Technology and the Research (A * Star) Diagnostics Development Hub (Hub DxD).
It can be used to see if the vaccines are working, check what percentage of the population has already been infected, and assist in finding contacts by allowing health authorities to retrace the stages of the virus.
It requires no highly specialized equipment or training to use and returns results in as little as an hour.
Professor Wang told The Straits Times that the FDA approval was hugely significant not only to his team, but to Singapore as well.
“Having FDA approval as the first and only commercial kit for determining neutralizing antibodies to Sars-CoV-2 in the world is a very high limit to reach,” said Professor Wang.
“This is an incredible recognition for our team and for the Singapore research and biotech landscape.
Meanwhile, Singapore reported eight cases of imported COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the number of infections in the country to 58,164.
There have been no new cases of COVID-19 transmitted locally for four consecutive days, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said. PTI GS NSA
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