RDIF, Japanese partners to launch fast COVID-19 tests in April

MOSCOW, Mar 16 (PRIME) -- The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and its Japanese partners will start testing new generation 30-minute COVID-19 tests in Moscow and the Moscow Region in April, CEO Kirill Dmitriev told reporters on Monday.

“We will begin pilot testing in Moscow and the Moscow Region in April, and full-scale tests are planned for May,” he said, adding that the tests will be mainly produced in Russia.

The RDIF’s supervisory board has approved investment in production of the tests.

“The system uses the SmartAmp isothermal molecular diagnostics method that is as precise as the currently used polymerase chain reaction method, but the new method is much faster and does not require a fixed-site laboratory,” a representative of the fund said.

The RDIF is discussing rapid introduction of the tests with the Russian government. Clinics and laboratories in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Austria have pre-ordered over 500,000 tests.

The RDIF also established a center of expertise for testing and using the world’s leading methods to fight coronavirus, and received a grant from UAE for development of anti-coronavirus vaccine, the fund also said.

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