Little transparency between test providers for Covid-19: U. National

Researchers from the National University reviewed information and prices of 170 tests that exist in the world market for the detection of the coronavirus.

Tests to detect the coronavirus, both known as “molecular” tests and rapid tests, have become one of the most precious assets of medicine worldwide. Having enough to detect people affected by the coronavirus is one of the cornerstones of the strategy to stop it.

Researchers from the National University undertook to review the information currently available on the market to help institutions that need to buy them make a better decision. For the study, they identified 170 tests –93 molecular and 77 immunoassays.

One of the first findings of the work is that there is little transparency among providers, which would explain a good part of the frauds that are occurring globally. According to the university statement on the work, only 81 providers report data of specificity (ability to differentiate the virus from other substances present in the sample) or sensitivity (possibility of detection of the virus, even in small amounts).

“This is a sign of the lack of transparency in the information, in such a critical matter, for the management of the pandemic,” says Professor Claudia Vaca González, director of the Center for Medicine, Information and Power Thought at the National University of Colombia (UNAL).

Regarding the price war, the unit prices of molecular tests were found to range from $ 11 to $ 62, while for serological tests it ranged from $ 7.5 to $ 50. Most of the tests are produced by suppliers in Europe, the United States, China, Singapore, South Korea, and Brazil.

“We set out to identify easily accessible health agency websites, repositories, or publications that had information from approved SARS-CoV-2 screening tests, either commercially available or under development,” says the researcher.

And he adds that the concern arose in the face of the urgent need to identify the global supply of tests and the possibility of having comparative information on prices for purchase decisions by health authorities.

The COVID-19 diagnostic tests are used to know the progress of the pandemic, establish isolation strategies, carry out adequate planning of the health services and define the safest exit patterns of confinement.

In the face of the price war and even shortages, several Colombian laboratories and universities have been working together to achieve some independence from this market and to produce the necessary chemical reagents in Colombia, as reported in this report El Espectador: Colombia thinks of its “independence” for tests of coronavirus.