CNN spotlighted “How this south Korean company created coronavirus test kits in three weeks"
Seoul (CNN)Before
there were any cases of novel coronavirus confirmed in South Korea, one
of the country's biotech firms had begun preparing to make testing kits to identify the disease. On
January 16, Chun Jong-yoon, the chief executive and founder of
molecular biotech company Seegene, told his team it was time to start
focusing on coronavirus. That was before the virus sweeping China had been named Covid-19 and four days ahead of South Korea confirming its first case. "Even
if nobody is asking us to, we are a molecular diagnosis company. We
have to prepare in advance," he remembered thinking at the time. Fast
forward two months, and South Korea is among the world's worst affected
countries, with more than 7,800 people infected, and more than 60
deaths. But
one reason why South Korea might have a higher number of infections
than other countries is its aggressive approach to testing.South Korea has 'passed the peak' of the coronavirus outbreak, health minister hopes While some nations have struggled to get enough test kits
to diagnose suspected patients, South Korea has provided free and easy
access to testing for anyone who a doctor deems needs it. The country's Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (KCDC) says the country has 118 facilities that can test -- and all report their results to KCDC. To date, the country has tested more than 230,000 people.It has even rolled out drive-through coronavirus testing facilities, where motorists are met by health workers dressed in hazmat suits. "Detecting
patients at an early stage is very important," South Korea's health
minister Park Neung-hu told CNN Monday. "South Korea is an open society
and would like to protect the freedom of people moving around and
traveling."That is why we're conducting mass amount of tests."But to roll out tests en masse, a country first needs test kits. Staff at Seegene's headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, on March 6, 2020. A secret weapon In the basement of Seegene's headquarters in Seoul lies the key to the company's coronavirus success.There
the company houses an artificial intelligence-based big data system,
which has enabled the firm to quickly develop a test for coronavirus.Tests
known as assay kits are made up of several vials of chemical solutions.
Samples are taken from patients and mixed with the solutions, which
react if certain genes are present. Without
the computer, it would have taken the team two to three months to
develop such a test, said Chun. This time, it was done in a matter of
weeks.By January 24, the
scientists had ordered the raw materials they needed for the test kits.
Four days later, they arrived. On February 5, the first version of the
test was ready. It was only the
third time the company had used its super computer -- rather than its
research and development team working manually -- to design a test. It
had previously used the system to make diagnosis kits for urethritis,
the inflammation of the urethra. The company was able
to design the test using only the genetic details that had been released
about the virus, and without having a sample of Covid-19. And it didn't require his teams to work around the clock. Only a few people needed to be involved, said Chun.An assembly line at Seegene's headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, on March 6, 2020. The
next hurdle was getting the test approved for use. It can take a
year-and-a-half to submit the necessary documents to South Korea's
authorities and get it approved. This time, it took a week.Lee
Dae-hoon, who led the team of scientists working to develop the
coronavirus test kit, has spent his whole life working on diseases. He's
never seen the KCDC approve a test kit so fast.On
February 12, Seegene got sign off, thanks to KCDC expediting the
process. It was only then that the scientists only knew for certain that
their test worked, as the government had evaluated the test using their
own patient samples. Getting the kit to hospitalsBy
mid-February, South Korea's coronavirus cases had spiked dramatically.
On February 23, the country's President Moon Jae-in raised the country's
crisis alert to the highest level."We're
now at a watershed moment with the novel coronavirus and the next few
days will be very critical," Moon said in a televised address. "We need
to identify the infected people as soon as possible and prevent the
virus from spreading further."Following
that, Chun made a snap decision. His 395 employees would drop all other
work and focus on making coronavirus test kits. Production of the
company's 50 or so other products temporarily ceased for two weeks. "Emergency
operation means all of the divisions, you have to change your job," he
said. "All of our teams are focusing on coronavirus product
development."A
worker at Seegene oversees an assembly line where test tubes are being
labeled at Seegene's headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, on March 6,
2020. That means micro molecular biologists with PhDs have had to drop research and development to take a seat on the assembly line."Some
times (senior scientists are) doing packaging of the product. It
doesn't matter how they are educated, it doesn't matter because we are
crazy here," said Noh Si-won, the executive director of corporate
strategy.Seegene is one of four companies providing coronavirus test kits in South Korea. But
the company is also facing international demand from about 30 countries
-- including Italy and Germany -- which are using Seegene's products,
Chun said. At first, Seegene struggled to meet demand, but now it is coping.The
firm is making about 10,000 kits a week and each kit can test 100
patients. So it is making enough to test one million patients each week,
at a cost of under $20 per test. Noh
Si-won, the executive director of corporate strategy, said it is the
first time he has seen the company manufacturing at this scale. The
company has three months' worth of stock of other test kits, so it can
meet demand for its preexisting orders for a month or two. But Chun said
it was important for the company to continue making coronavirus test
kits -- and the need goes beyond financial gains."We
have to be providing or contributing one way or the other to figure it
out as soon as possible. That's why (we supply to) the whole world," he
says.What other countries are doing wrongIn other countries, the authorities have struggled to keep up with the demand for testing. Chun says one possible explanation is that some places may be testing manually, rather than automatically. All
tests start with a nurse taking a swab or a sample from a patient. If
the swab is tested manually, a scientist will use a pipette to put the
assay kit onto the sample.What actually happens during a coronavirus test?But in a growing number of places -- including South Korea -- scientists are using automatic testing.Rather than a human mixing the solutions, the samples are instead put into a diagnostic machine. Inside
the machine, a robot arm pipettes the solution and mixes the liquids on
a number of tests at once. According to Chun, this method takes only
four hours to test samples from 94 patients -- four times faster than
the manual method. It also reduces the risk of human error or
contamination. The other thing
that could be slowing some countries down is the type of test kits being
used. There are three genes that can be tested for to confirm
coronavirus -- and Seegene's kits are able to test for all three genes
in one tube, said Chun. That's not necessarily the case for all test
kits. Chun believes if the United
States had access to Seegene's system, the country could test 1 million
patients a week. But for now, the US doesn't have the test -- it doesn't
have approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).Chun wants to help health authorities overseas."The
issue is they have no chance to test the people properly," he said.
"Without the proper diagnosis, nobody knows what's going on."
Mar 12, 2020View Detail >
