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| Boxes of EDGC HealthCare's coronavirus test kits for the state of Colorado / Courtesy of EDGC HealthCare |
By Jung Min-ho
EDGC HealthCare, a subsidiary of Korean genome sequencing company EDGC, is planning to export more COVID-19 detection kits to Colorado this month.
An EDGC Healthcare official told The Korea Times Thursday that the U.S. state will import its detection kits, DiaPlexQ, for 200,000 tests over the next two months after its initial purchase of 100,000 tests last month.
The deal comes after the test kit received emergency-use approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Colorado is one of several U.S. states to have imported the products for a total of 1 million tests in the country, the official said.
Since emerging in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, the new coronavirus has infected nearly 3.7 million people and killed more than 260,000 around the world.
Korea initially struggled with a surge in new cases but has kept the outbreak under control. The government has been praised for its rapid virus testing program ― 10,000 daily tests ― and keeping the information transparent.
With its customers in more than 50 countries, EDGC is now among the leaders in the K-medical wave ― in emulation of a Korean wave of popular culture that has carried singers and TV shows around the globe.
According to data from the Korea Customs Service, the value of the nation's coronavirus test kit exports reached $201.2 million last month, a major leap from $24 million in March.
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