Malaysia's MyEG To Introduce At-Home Saliva-Based COVID-19 Testing In The Philippines

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 (Bernama) -- MY E.G. Services Bhd (MYEG) will introduce an at-home, saliva-based COVID-19 testing service in the Philippines this month to help the country fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The testing service is a safe and non-invasive test method which can accelerate and enhance screening, it said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia (Malaysia’s Stock Exchange) As the exclusive distributor of the kit, MYEG will be making the service -- the first of its kind in the Philippine market -- available through its joint-venture, I-Pay MYEG Philippines Inc, in collaboration with IP Biotech, Inc, a licensed importer of vaccines, and medical devices in the country, and Family Vaccine and Specialty Clinics, Inc., one of the largest chain of vaccination clinics in the country that delivers quality health care services to Filipinos. MYEG said the diagnostic kit enables the on-site collection of saliva samples at home or at the workplace by licensed medical professionals, after which samples are then sent to partner laboratories for processing, with test results delivered within one to two working days. “This saliva-based kit, which has received the approval of the Food and Drug Administration of the Philippines and has also been approved in Singapore and Indonesia, can detect the new strains of COVID-19 that have been reported in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil,” it said. Meanwhile, similar kits have also been granted emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration, where the likes of retail giant Costco is pioneering the use of such at-home, mail-in COVID-19 tests. “Apart from the Philippines, MYEG also plans to deploy a similar approach to testing in Malaysia, pending approval from the relevant regulators for the use of the test kits. “Making such a hassle-free approach to testing available to the Malaysian public would be very much in line with the convenient, doorstep delivery of a myriad government and ancillary services that MYEG is already known for. Furthermore, this effort can help ease the pressure on the country’s frontline workers who have been working tirelessly in the past year,” it said. In the wake of the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, MYEG said it has leveraged its strengths and expertise as a leading digital services provider in the region to embark on a number of significant initiatives, guided by an overarching vision to provide a holistic solution to help in the fight against the pandemic. These initiatives include, among others, cooperation with Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. to conduct Phase 3 trials, obtain halal certification and distribute Chinese company’s vaccine in Malaysia, the provision of MySafeTravel, a digital health pass system to facilitate inbound travellers’ adherence to mandatory COVID-19 testing and quarantine requirements, as well as the provision of a one-stop portal for the screening of workers in the country. -- BERNAMA