Nantong-produced test kits help curb virus spread

Nantong Egens Biotechnology Co is currently busy producing 5 million COVID-19 test kits, which will be exported to Europe, local media reported.

All self-developed automatic production lines have been running at full capacity and are capable of producing nearly 1.7 million kits per day.

"Research teams in Beijing and Nantong have worked day and night since the Spring Festival holiday to develop COVID-19 test kits," said Ou Weijun, the chairman of Egens.

A series of products achieved the European Union's CE certifications in early March and went into mass production.

So far, about 200 million test kits have been sold to Brazil, the United Kingdom, Italy and other countries.

According to Ou, the test kit produced by Egens requires only 15 to 20 minutes to produce a result, which is as accurate as the nucleic acid test.

"The company's net profit is expected to surpass 150 million yuan ($22.6 million) this year. We are also working to go public on the science and technology innovation board," Ou said.

Egens, founded in 1999 in the economic and technological development zone in Nantong, is committed to the development of bio-raw materials, production of diagnostic reagents, as well as domestic and international trade.

As a provincial-level high-tech business, Egens has given top priority to sci-tech innovation. It has established a bio research institute, a nanometer antibody engineering research center and a postdoctoral research station.

Its research and development expenditure accounts for 8 to 10 percent of its sales revenue each year.

The company has been granted 13 national invention patents and 12 utility model patents, involving multifunctional test kits for early pregnancy, a luteinizing hormone quantitative detection system and more. Another 10 patents are currently under examining procedures.