Celltrion tries to sell Covid test kit for kids in U.S.

The DiaTrust Covid-19 home test kit, which was developed by Celltrion and Humasis [CELLTRION]

Celltrion said it applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use authorization for its at-home Covid-19 diagnostic kit for kids.

The DiaTrust test kits are for children between the ages of 2 and 14. They can be purchased without a prescription.

The company is expected to receive permission within the second quarter. Celltrion received an emergency use authorization from the FDA in October for test kits for people 14 and older.

The kit, which was jointly developed by Celltrion and Kosdaq-listed Humasis, produces results within 15 minutes. The kit has 86.7 percent sensitivity and 99.8 percent specificity, according to the results of clinical trials that took place in the United States on about 490 patients from last March to last July.

A study by the U.S. National Institutes of Health revealed that the kits are effective in detecting the Omicron variant.

Celltrion on Friday also said it won a 460-billion-won ($384-million) supply deal from the United States.

The at-home test kits will be distributed to 10 government institutions and companies including the Defense Logistics Agency under the U.S. Department of Defense and Amazon.

The United States is the world’s No. 1 market for test kits. A total of 923.2 million Covid-19 test kits were used in the United States as of Feb. 10, according to data from Worldometer. The U.S. test kit market is estimated at about 10 trillion won.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]