PR89428

HONG KONG, May 11, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

COVID-19 rapid antigen test (RAT) INDICAID(R), developed by Hong Kong

biotechnology start-up PHASE Scientific International Limited (PHASE), has been

named by the government as one of the designated rapid tests when care homes

resume visitation on Monday. The endorsement came after the Food and Health

Bureau's satisfactory audit of INDICAID's community dual-track pilot results.

On 30 April 2021, the Social Welfare Department announced the conditional

resumption of visits to residential care homes for the elderly and residential

care homes for persons with disabilities and designated INDICAID(R) as one of

the three (the other two are Roche Diagnostics and Abbott Laboratories), and

the only locally developed, COVID-19 RAT to be used by the visitors. To gain

entry to these facilities, visitors that are fully vaccinated may present their

negative COVID-19 RAT results within 24-hour prior to the visit.

Dr. Ricky Chiu Yin-to, Founder and CEO of PHASE Scientific, welcomes the

official endorsement of INDICAID(R) RAT. "While rapid antigen test is not a

substitute of the gold-standard PCR test, its lower cost and ease-of-use are

conducive to more frequent testing and faster results, which are critical to

outbreak prevention and control. According to US Centers for Disease Control

(CDC), serial antigen testing conducted weekly is able to offset the lower

sensitivity of antigen tests while delivering advantages that PCR testing-only

cannot provide, despite the higher sensitivity of the latter." Dr Chiu sees it

as an important step for policymakers and the community to support wider

adoption of RAT particularly in helping resume socioeconomic activities and

'normalcy' in steps.

INDICAID(R) COVID-19 rapid antigen test is a CE-marked lateral flow immunoassay

designed for the qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigens in direct nasal

swab samples. It is developed in Hong Kong with reliable product quality and is

easy-to-use, with no special equipment or facilities needed. Results are

available fast within 20 minutes, and are clinically validated with world's

largest dual-track testing with over 9,200 samples with high sensitivity and

specificity. INDICAID(R) has been widely adopted in hospitals, government and

private corporations, supermarkets, hotels and schools for regular screening in

Hong Kong and overseas. INDICAID(R) is currently available in 33 countries, and

in the process of obtaining approval for emergency use authorization by the US

Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

SOURCE PHASE Scientific