GC Medical Science (GCMS), a company specializing in diagnostic reagents and medical devices, announced on April 8 that it signed a strategic business agreement on the COVID-19 diagnostic kit with M Monitor, a development company specializing in POCT molecular diagnosis, at its headquarters in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province on April 7.
Under the agreement, the two companies will work together in various areas to expand overseas sales of M Monitor's COVID-19 diagnostic kit "Isopolo® COVID-19." GCMS will be in charge of producing and selling products, and will also push for new permits for its own products through technology transfer.
"Isopolo® COVID-19" is applied with "isothermal amplification (LAMP)" technology that amplifies genes at a constant temperature without repetition of heating and cooling. As a result, sampling and analysis of results can be shortened to less than 1 hour.
In addition, the product's characteristic is that the presence of viruses can be immediately confirmed by color changes in reagents by using "Colorimetric" technology.
There are two product lines. It includes a "Premix" kit with color-matric technology and a "Real-time" kit that uses existing real-time monitoring equipment.
GCMS explained that it is currently developing ultra-sensitive COVID-19 diagnostic reagent using DNA polymerase technology targeting advanced medical countries, and that this rapid diagnostic product will be a good alternative to regions and countries where medical infrastructure is not sufficiently secured.
"We will establish an integrated diagnostic platform related to new virus infectious diseases, including COVID-19, through active open innovation,” said Ahn Eun-eok, CEO of GCMS. "We will concentrate all our capabilities on solving the COVID-19 crisis around the world, along with COVID-19 treatments and vaccines being developed by us."
"M Monitor has released the current COVID-19 diagnostic product with the technology created through accumulated development and commercialization," said Jeon Hyo-sung, CEO of M Monitor. "We plan to become a global on-site molecular diagnosis company through cooperation with GC Green Cross MES."
Meanwhile, GCMS is developing ultra-sensitive COVID-19 diagnostic reagents using DNA enzyme technology through a joint development agreement with Jincast, a liquid biopsy cancer diagnosis company, in March.
