Tokyo (SCCIJ) – Pharmaceutical companies from Switzerland and Japan are at the forefront of the battle against the new coronavirus. They have developed faster test kits and review whether other active ingredients on hand are repurposable for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
Module of analysis device Cobas of Roche Pharmaceutical (© Roche)
Virus test in 3.5 hours
Starting with the faster tests, Roche from Basel, Switzerland, is helping to significantly increase the globally available testing capacity with a new Sars-CoV-2 detection kit. The test called “Cobas” can provide test results in three and a half hours, with up to 96 results in about three hours and a total of 384 results in eight hours.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just issued an emergency use authorization for this Roche test. Hospitals and reference laboratories can run the test on Roche’s fully automated systems, which are widely available in the U.S. and around the world. Roche will have millions of tests a month ready and is going to the limits of its production capacity, the company said in a statement.
An imported home test kit
On Monday, the Japanese textile maker Kurabo Industries has started sales of a test kit that can detect the new coronavirus in 15 minutes with an accuracy of 95 percent. Its Chinese business partner developed the device which has been on sale in China already. Kurabo Industries has supplies that would be able to test 10,000 people a day in Japan. The test kit detects antibodies which a patient develops after contracting the coronavirus.
Some drops of blood are combined with a reagent and put on a membrane that detects a polymerase chain reaction after five to six hours. According to Kurabo, one kit can test ten samples. However, Japan’s national health insurance does not cover the cost of 25,000 yen plus tax because Japanese authorities have not approved the equipment yet. But individuals could now test themselves or their kin at home or with the help of a regular doctor.
The home kit of Kurabo Industries for a coronavirus test (© Kurabo Industries)
“Repurposed” drugs
Swiss and Japanese pharmaceutical companies are also examining existent medicines which may have the capability to treat the new disease. For example, a substance called Fingolimod in the portfolio of the Swiss pharma giant Novartis may have the potential for such a repurposement. Yoshitomi Pharmaceuticals synthesized this substance first in 1923. After some improvement, doctors now prescribe it for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
This week, the Chinese government declared the Japanese drug “Avigan” developed by Fujifilm Toyama Chemical as “clearly effective” against Covid-19. So far, Avigan is used against influenza, Ebola and other virus infections.
Another enzyme blocker is the active ingredient nafamostat in Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical’s drug Futhan. This medicine is chosen as a blood thinner in pancreatic and renal diseases. Researchers at the University of Tokyo have just announced their assumption that nafamostat may also be effective against Sars-CoV-2. In addition, a medicine of Ono Pharmaceutical blocks the enzyme TMPRSS2, which Sars-CoV-2 utilizes to enter human cells. Under the brand name of Foipan, Japan has currently approved it for the treatment of pancreatitis.
Text: Martin Fritz for SCCIJ
