Thailand’s National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) signed an MOU with Khon Kaen University and Innov (Thailand) Co. Ltd. to license the locally developed microtube gel test kit for manufacturing and commercialization.
A protoype of the kit was developed by a team of researchers led by Assoc. Prof. Amornrat Romphruk from the Faculty of Medicine in Khon Kaen University. The research was supported by a grant from Thailand’s National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC) back in 2004. This prototype has been successfully tested at Srinagarind Hospital in Khon Kaen and is deemed ready for mass production. In a press release by BIOTEC, the microtube gel test kit is used in a broad range of blood banking applications, with the more common one being antibody screening and identification of blood groupings.
Sample of Microtube Gel Test Kit, dubbed the BB Gel Test. Pictures from BIOTEC, a member of NSTDA.
Thailand’s first effective low-cost microtube gel test, the BB Gel Test will work on the principle of controlled centrifugation of red blood cells through a dextran-acrylamide-gel. The benefit of the gel microtubes is that it is accurate and the results can be saved for later supervisory or peer review. The most important aspects of BB Gel Test is that it is effective and economical available for hospitals in developing countries. This successful research project was initiated by the government in order to ease the burden on local hospitals who have to fork out between THB 1.7 – 2.0 million (US$ 49,700 – 58,500) to test every 100,000 blood samples using imported products. The new test kit has been licensed through Innov (Thailand) Co. Ltd. for local manufacturing and distribution and has also been targeted for sale in neighbouring countries.
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