The announcement was made on March 5th by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), which sponsored the diagnostic kit development.
The successful development has made Vietnam one of the few countries able to manufacture such test kits, alongside the World Health Organisation, Japan, Germany, China and the United States.
The testing kit has been validated independently by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) and produces reliable results, said VMMU Director Do Quyet.
He added that the accuracy of the test kit, which was developed in just one month, is similar to those produced by the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The NIHE has recommended using the VMMU-developed kit to test for the new coronavirus, officially known as SARS-CoV-2.
Viet A Corporation said it can manufacture 10,000 kits per day and that capacity can be tripled if needed.
Such a production capacity can meet domestic demand and be used for export as COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is spreading rapidly in many countries around the world.
Viet A General Director Phan Quoc Viet said the test kit can produce a result after two hours, similar to those developed by the WHO and CDC, but its price is just one third of theirs, at VND400,000-600,000 (US$17-26).
The successful development of the new coronavirus test kit is particularly important as the COVID-19 outbreak is now a global concern and it undoubtedly reaffirms the capability of Vietnamese scientists.
