Hitachi, Toshiba, Miraca to set up line for antigen test kits (updated)
05/06/2020 03:17
(Adds details of the partnership, background)
TOKYO, June 5 (Reuters) - Japanese industrial conglomerates
Hitachi Ltd 6501.T and Toshiba Corp 6502.T , as well as
Miraca Holdings 4544.T subsidiary Fujirebio, said on Friday
they will jointly set up a facility to produce antigen
coronavirus testing kits.
The line would help double production of Fujirebio's testing
kits, which received government approval in May, to 400,000 a
week, the companies said. It would start operations by December
in northern Hokkaido prefecture. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2CU0LK
Antigen tests scan for proteins found on or inside a virus.
They can detect the virus quickly but produce false negatives at
a higher rate than the currently dominant polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) tests.
It takes about 30 minutes to get a result with Fujirebio's
palm-sized antigen test kit, compared with four to six hours for
a PCR test.
In a rare partnership, Hitachi will provide engineering
know-how, while Toshiba will offer facilities. Fujirebio
currently produces test kits at a plant in southern Japan.
The new coronavirus has infected more than 6.4 million
people and killed about 380,000 around the world. Japan has had
some 17,000 infections and 900 known deaths to date.
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FACTBOX-Global pharma industry steps up efforts to battle
coronavirus urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2BH35E
GRAPHIC - Coronavirus: knowns and unknowns https://reut.rs/2UHIgvz
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(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Chris Gallagher and
Stephen Coates)
((Makiko.Yamazaki@thomsonreuters.com; +81-3-4563-2805;))