Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
SolGent exports COVID-19 detection kits to Europe
SolGent's coronavirus detection kit DiaPlexQ. / Courtesy of EDGC
By Jung Min-ho
By Jung Min-ho
SolGent, a subsidiary of Korean genome sequencing company EDGC, will export its COVID-19 detection kits (DiaPlexQ) to Europe after signing a deal with Synlab, an international medical diagnostics provider based in Germany.
SolGent told The Korea Times Monday that it has signed a purchase contract with Synlab for 30,000 tests this week after attaining CE marking, a certification that demonstrates conformity with health and safety standards for products sold in Europe.
“The amount of purchase by Synlab is expected to increase next week, given the situation in Europe,” a company official said. “We have been in talks with potential buyers in more than 20 countries.”
Since emerging in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, the new coronavirus has spread around the world ― and it is getting worse. In Italy, one of the worst-hit countries, the virus has infected nearly 60,000 people and killed more than 5,400 in the past few weeks.
Korea initially struggled with a surge in new cases but has appeared to keep the outbreak under control. The government has been praised for its rapid virus testing program ― 10,000 daily tests ― and keeping the information transparent.
SolGent is one of four COVID-19 detection kit makers that have received approval from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for domestic emergency use. But the company says it is the only one that produces the kits with self-developed material.