Kaneka Eurogentec begins supplying reagents for novel coronavirus testing
—Contracted manufacturing for vaccine development also increased—
April 2, 2020
Kaneka Eurogentec S.A. (Headquarters: Liège, Belgium; President: Lieven Janssens), an affiliate of Kaneka Corporation (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Minoru Tanaka), has reinforced production of PCR*1 reagents used in the novel coronavirus testing, as per requested by the Belgian government. They have begun supplying hospitals, testing organizations and research institutes in Belgium and its neighboring countries with enough PCR reagents to conduct around 200,000 tests for the first shipment.
University of Namur (Namur, Belgium) has succeeded in developing a convenient detection method that refrains from using reagents that require specialized equipment, and this was approved as a method for the novel coronavirus testing by Belgium's Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products. The method uses Kaneka Eurogentec's PCR reagent (TakyonTM), which led to the request from the Belgian authorities to supply the reagent.
Kaneka Eurogentec S.A. also possesses world-leading technologies for high quality mRNA*2 and plasmid DNA*3. They have strengthened GMP*4 manufacturing of mRNA and plasmid DNA in order to respond to growing inquiries on a novel coronavirus vaccine, which pharmaceutical companies and biotech ventures are accelerating development of.
Kaneka will put in every effort to provide solutions to the novel coronavirus for worldwide health.
- Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a technology for greatly amplifying a specific region from a gene sample (either DNA or RNA). It is used in testing viral genes causing infectious diseases and in molecular biological research.
- Messenger RNA (mRNA) is an RNA molecule that is transcribed genetic information of protein synthesis from DNA. It is expected to be used as a new modality for vaccines and therapeutics.
- A general term for circular DNA molecules that exist outside the nucleus of bacteria such as E. coli and yeast, and that are passed down to daughter cells through cell division. It is conventionally used in processes for producing biopharmaceuticals such as therapeutic proteins and has been applied to genetic medicines and vaccines in recent years.
- Good Manufacturing Practice: A standard for production and quality control for pharmaceuticals and other products.
【General description of Kaneka Eurogentec S.A.】
- Headquarters
- Liège, Belgium
- President
- Lieven Janssens
- Description of business
- Manufacturing and sales of proteins, nucleic acids and peptides for medicinal, diagnostic and basic research uses
- Established
- 1985
- Capital
- 31 million euros
The PCR reagent（Takyon™）
