Outlook for diagnosis kit makers positive as FIND promises funding

Industry

Published: 26 Oct. 2022, 18:10 Updated: 26 Oct. 2022, 18:40

Outlook for diagnosis kit makers positive as FIND promises funding

Bill Rodriguez, CEO of Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, speaks at a press conference during the World Bio Summit 2022 on Wednesday. [FOUNDATION FOR INNOVATIVE NEW DIAGNOSTICS]

Prospects for local diagnosis kit makers are positive, with the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) promising to fund Korean companies based on their quality products and affordability.

“Korean companies have a commitment to affordability and high quality, and that combination is something not every company commits to,” said Bill Rodriguez, CEO of FIND at a press conference in the sidelines of the World Bio Summit 2022, held at the Grand Walkerhill Seoul in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, on Wednesday.

“We also found that here in Korea, partnerships are based on trust, open engagements and clear communication and we can say that’s not true of every company in every part of the world.”

A non-profit organization based in Geneva, FIND aims to provide funding to diagnosis companies to help develop test kits for various diseases at affordable prices. Its target is to provide the funded test kits to low income countries in Africa and South America.

Although asking for-profit private companies to prioritize affordability may seem impractical, FIND says it tries to appeal to companies by providing adequate funding for the research and development stages.

In Korea, FIND is currently investing in SD Biosensor and Bioneer for the development of molecular test platforms that can detect multiple diseases from a single sample. With the funding, both companies are working on developing a test kit that can detect Covid-19, the flu virus and the respiratory syncytial virus at the same time, selling it under $15 to low- and middle-income countries.

FIND has also financed Osong Medical Innovation Foundation for the development of Covid-19 tests.

The organization also assists companies by guiding their entry into new markets overseas, providing information regarding each country’s regulations to get test kit approval.

“We also make an agreement on what we call access pricing and negotiate terms to make sure that we put ceilings on the prices that companies can charge for different income groups and countries, and that they commit to those ceiling prices in a transparent way for a long term, which is usually a ten-year period of time,” said Rodriguez. “We also make sure those prices are actually fair so companies can deliver products they made for a reasonable profit.”

FIND said it is working on signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The organization has only discussed outlines, but Rodriguez said the MOU will be focused on FIND providing more funding for R&D stages.

“FIND and the ministries have a shared agenda,” said Rodriguez. “[The] greater the success of the Korean diagnostics industry in developing innovative products, the greater FIND’s success, because we can bring those products to markets across the world and deliver better quality care.”

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]