INNOVATION
MARCH-APRIL-MAY, 2020 | The Health Xtra
11
UNIMAS Covid-19 testing
centre explores local products
These are senior
researchers
who have the
necessary technical
background and
experience and
have volunteered
to assist in
the laboratory
diagnostics of
Covid-19.”
– Dr David Perera
The GF-1 spin column in GF-1
Nucleic Acid Extraction Kits are
fi xed with a specially treated glass
fi lter membrane that is uniquely
designed to effi ciently bind DNA or
RNA in the presence of high salts.
Prof Dr David Perera, the Director of IHCM.
BY KHIRTINI K KUMARAN
CEO of Vivantis Technologies Sdn. Bhd., Mr. Law Eng Lim with his lab
manager and lab offi cer working in the laboratory.
next couple of weeks.”
He said the company’s staff were working non-stop in a
race against time to supply the kits to hospitals and labs while
at the same time working on new product development and
improvement. “This is a lot of work. I’m proud of my team and
being a local company, and we are capable of helping to combat
COVID-19,” he shared.
Vivantis, a Malaysian research-based BioNexus status bio-
technology company incorporated in 2002, specialises in the
production and distribution of Restriction Enzymes, Nucleic
Acid Extraction and Purifi cation Kits, DNA/RNA Amplifi ca-
tion Reagents, DNA Ladders and Markers, Real-time PCR Kits
and Master Mixes, Cloning Kits, Polymerases and Modifying
Enzymes, Dyes, Ready-Made Buff ers and other related products
and services to enable scientists to make discoveries in areas
encompassing genomics, proteomics, molecular diagnostics,
molecular agrobiology and other biotechnology applications.
— The Health Xtra
THE INSTITUTE for Health and Community
Medicine (IHCM) and Faculty of Medical
and Health Sciences (FMHS) from Universiti
Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) are one of the 10
certifi ed laboratories appointed as Covid-19
testing centres in Malaysia.
It is one of the two Covid-19 testing labora-
tories in Sarawak, the other being the Sarawak
General Hospital laboratory.
Vi va nt i s Te c h n o l o g i e s S d n B h d
(Vivantis), a Malaysian-based biotech com-
pany, is assisting with the immediate supply
of RNA extraction kits for use in COVID-19
tests.
The company is producing and supplying
the GF-1 Viral Nucleic Acid Extraction Kit
and ViPrimePLUS 2019-nCoV RT-qPCR Kit to
labs nationwide and overseas. Vivantis is a
subsidiary company of Revongen Corporation
Sdn Bhd (Revongen).
Prof Dr David Perera, the Director of IHCM,
was appointed the Regional Head and Coordi-
nator for the test centre. The laboratory team
members comprise personnel from the IHCM
and FMHS, UNIMAS.
“These are senior researchers who have
the necessary technical background and
experience and have volunteered to assist in
the laboratory diagnostics of Covid-19,” Dr
David Perera shared.
According to him, the critical task of being
the only other certifi ed Covid-19 testing labo-
ratory in Sarawak is to assist the State health
department in providing laboratory testing
for the virus.
“We offi cially started testing on March 30
and to date have carried out more than 2,000
tests,” he said.
With the rise in demand and urgency for
testing kits, the laboratory is also exploring
and testing locally manufactured products.
“We have explored the use of locally
manufactured kits and reagents and have
used some in our laboratory,” he said, adding
that they have also initiated actions to bring
automation for some steps in the testing
procedure.
They anticipate an increase in the demand
for Covid-19 laboratory testing.
The Sarawak Disaster Management Com-
mittee (SDMC) is the operational body that
coordinates all the responses with regards
to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic
in the State. The Sarawak Health Depart-
ment provides advice to SDMC on matters
about public health response to Covid-19.
— The Health Xtra
Doing business with a heart
THE WORLD’S largest manufacturer of
gloves has donated millions of medical
gloves for the use of frontliners.
In business, its not always about
making money. Its also about giving
back to society when the need arises.
Top Glove Corporation Berhad
subscribes to this philosophy. It has
donated free medical gloves to the
Penang government and hospitals in
Wuhan, Hubei in China earlier this year
to help combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
The listed company donated 70,000
gloves to the Penang government
on March 25. The Penang General
Hospital received 50,000 pairs while
the rest were distributed to the Police,
Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and
Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP).
On April 8, it donated another 120,000
gloves to the state government. It
also donated three million gloves to
hospitals in Wuhan in January 2020.
For Top Glove Executive Chairman
Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee Chai, it’s not all
about enjoying profits. “While our sales
have surged, we are sad to see so much
sickness and suffering. We are pleased
to be in a position to help protect and
save lives. We will continue to produce
as many gloves as we can to help
contain this outbreak.”
In July last year, Top Glove was
recognised as CSR Malaysia Company
of the Year (Manufacturing of Gloves)at
the CSR Malaysia Awards 2019.