S.Korean coronavirus test maker Osang ready to ship 100 mln kits to U.S.

OSANGJAIEL Co

15/05/2020 04:35

SEOUL, May 15 (Reuters) - Osang Healthcare Co, the first
South Korean maker of coronavirus test kits to win preliminary
approval from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, is ready to
ship kits that can test 100 million people in the United States,
an executive said on Friday. 
    Fast-track approval, followed by a massive testing campaign
and intensive contact tracing, is credited with helping South
Korea slow the disease and avoid strict lockdowns, while the
United States has been criticised for a slow response. 
    Osang is in talks with U.S. distributors to source its test
kits to different states, said the executive, Lee Sung-ho, but
he declined to elaborate. 
    The firm's global exports of about 10 million tests includes
760,000 tests to U.S. customers, with 300,000 going to the U.S.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and more to state
governments via an intermediary, Lee added. 
    Osang has the capacity to make 15 million tests each week,
Lee added, in statements that first appeared in a Bloomberg
interview on Thursday with the firm's chief executive.
    The firm won FDA approval last month.  
    Shares in parent company Osangjaiel Co Ltd  053980.KQ  have
more than doubled since late February. 
    

 (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
 ((jungyoon.lee@tr.com; +82 2 6936 1467;))