Celltrion announced on Dec. 18 that it has signed a 240 billion won ($222 million) contract to supply COVID-19 quick diagnosis antigen kits to the U.S.
Celltrion will provide Celltrion DiaTrust™ COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test, jointly developed by Humasis, an in vitro diagnostic company, and Celltrion to Prime Healthcare Distributors, a New York-based diagnostic kits and personal protection equipment company, through its U.S.-based subsidiary Celltrion USA.
Celltrion USA signed a U.S. supply contract with Prime Healthcare last month for the COVID-19 antigen fast kit "Sampinute" worth 210 billion won, but signed a new supply contract with DiaTrust to respond to current demand more immediately as additional facilities for mass production are needed for a long period of time.
Prime Healthcare plans to secure exclusive distribution rights to the U.S. market in line with the ongoing emergency approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for DiaTrust.
DiaTrust is a product that recognizes a virus's specific surface antigen by applying a Celltrion antibody that strongly binds to COVID-19, and can be diagnosed within 15 minutes of infection.
In particular, the infection can be checked immediately after diagnosis without additional diagnostic equipment. The company said the sensitivity of the clinical results was 100% in the forward-looking sample and 94.3% in the rear-facing sample, while the specificity was 100%.
An official from Celltrion said, "We have signed a contract to supply DiaTrust after considering ways to cope with the rapidly increasing demand in the U.S. market for the diagnosis of COVID-19 and maximize the treatment effect of CT-P59, an antibody treatment through early diagnosis."
Meanwhile, Celltrion also completed European CE certification in November for its antigen diagnostic kit, which can simultaneously diagnose COVID-19 and influenza A and B and jointly developed with Humasis.
