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CYBERJAYA: Malaysia has launched a test kit that can detect an individual’s immunity to Covid-19.
Called ImmuSAFE, the test will tell the level of immunity a person has towards Covid-19 based on their antibodies.
It is developed by local company Sengenics Sdn Bhd in collaboration with Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii).
The advantages of being able to determine a person’s level of immunity to Covid-19 is avoiding the closure of a workplace or an entire industry because someone has been infected, said MARii CEO Datuk Madani Sahari.
“The ImmuSAFE test can detect those who are immune and have developed antibodies.
“Those who do not have antibodies should follow SOP (standard operating procedure) if they are at work.
“So only the person who is infected should stay home and the others who are well should continue working. If you quarantine all staff for two weeks, it becomes a waste of opportunity, ”Madani explained.
ImmuSAFE works by complementing the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test currently used by the government for Covid-19 testing.
“This test is not going to replace the RT-PCR test, since RT-PCR is the confirmatory test to detect the presence of Covid-19 when a person is infected.
“ImmuSAFE would be a complementary test. Combined with RT-PCR, it can give a complete picture of whether a person has been infected and, if so, whether the person is immune to the virus or not.
“Together, both tests would be the perfect solution to understanding the status, whether or not you are infected with Covid-19,” Madani said at a press conference after the ImmuSAFE launch here yesterday.
The ImmuSAFE test has a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and this has been validated by the Institute of Medical Research (IMR) of the Ministry of Health.
This means that the ImmuSAFE test result will not produce false positives or negatives, unlike other antigen tests.
Based on tests performed on 5000 samples, test results can be obtained in less than 24 hours.
Also present at the launch event was Sengenics CEO Dr. Arif Anwar.
Dr. Arif said that the test kit took a few months to develop and cost around US $ 5,000 (RM20,700).
Although he did not disclose the true cost of the ImmuSAFE test, Madani said it would be priced lower than the RT-PCR test, which is about RM388 per person on average.
At the event, MARii also launched ImmuSAFE Tracker, an app it developed that has smart contact tracing capabilities based on the agency’s big data analytics and artificial intelligence platforms.
MARii is an agency under the Ministry of Industry and International Trade.
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