Developed by University of Liège in Belgium, only test of its kind available on African continent
Contipharma, a pharmaceutical company specialising in the development and marketing of targeted medical solutions, is making a saliva-based PCR test available across the entire continent of Africa. The test, which was developed by the University of Liège (ULiège) in Belgium and is CE marked, can detect all known variants of SARS-CoV-2, including Omicron. It is the only saliva-based PCR test available in Africa and one of just a handful of its kind available worldwide.
Contipharma and ULiège first teamed up at the start of 2021. This self-collection saliva testing kit developed by the COVID-19 laboratory at ULiège offers two key advantages: first, people can collect the sample themselves, meaning no medical personnel are required; and second, the virus in the sample is inactivated immediately, which saves both time and money as this step no longer needs to be completed by a laboratory.
“It has now been shown by many research groups that saliva testing is as effective, if not more so, than nasopharyngeal testing in detecting SARS-CoV-2. There is even evidence to suggest that the epidemic can be better managed if saliva rather than nasopharyngeal testing is used,” explained Bernard Delhez, CEO, Contipharma.
To accurately detect different variants, every step needs to be on point – this includes taking the sample, inactivating the virus, extracting the viral genetic material and performing the PCR method. The inactivation and extraction processes developed by ULiège have proven highly effective in extracting very high-quality RNA. The ULiège process has been approved for use and widely implemented as part of the national testing program in Belgium. The process, which targets multiple rather than singular genes, also uses PCR reagents which include primers that have been specifically selected to identify and detect all known variants of SARS-CoV-2.
Contipharma has already signed its first contracts to supply the tests to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Sudan. The company is currently concentrating its efforts on the market launch in Africa but also plans to market the tests in other world regions soon.
