News | Press Releases

February 27, 2020

CANON MEDICAL TO COMMENCE DEVELOPMENT OF A RAPIDGENETIC TESTING SYSTEM FOR THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

Ohtawara, Japan; February 26 – Canon Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Medical) announces the start of development of a rapid genetic testing system for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) reaffirming the company’s commitment to the basic research and development of rapid diagnostic test kits. This project is part of a research program focusing on the development of diagnostic methods for COVID-19 led by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED). ¹⁾

Canon Medical was selected to participate in this research program in cooperation with
Nagasaki University. This was in recognition of Canon Medical’s strength in leveraging the company’s technologies in delivering practical solutions to support medical emergencies, notably by supplying Ebola rapid test kits to the Republic of Guinea in 2015, ²⁾ donating Ebola rapid test kits to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2019, and through the manufacturing approval and sale of the Genelyzer KIT (a reagent kit for  Zika virus RNA testing) in 2018. ³⁾

The test and the reagents developed for COVID-19 RNA testing is based on the LAMP
method ⁴⁾ developed by Eiken Chemical Co., Ltd., and are used with a compact isothermal amplified gene fluorescent detector manufactured by Canon Medical to detect the presence of virus. Compared to the conventional test method of real-time PCR, the LAMP method allows for detection of the virus to be performed more easily and quickly, which makes it suitable for testing in local areas where infection is prevalent.

As Japan continues to battle the spread of infectious diseases, with the Tokyo Olympic Games scheduled to commence in July, Canon Medical is committed to the safety and security of society by introducing practical solutions that address acute medical needs through the research and development of rapid genetic testing systems of COVID-19.

1) On the AMED website: https://www.amed.go.jp/program/list/01/06/covid-19.html

2) Following the outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in West Africa in 2015, in response to a request from the government of the Republic of Guinea, the Japanese government donated Ebola rapid test kits which were jointly developed by Canon Medical Systems Corporation (formerly Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation) and Nagasaki University.
https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/press/release/press3_000088.html

3) Trade name: Reagents for Zika Virus RNA Testing
Genelyzer KIT FGNK-0003A
Approval number: 23000EZX00035000
The company obtained approval for the manufacture and sale of this kit in June 2018
based on joint development work with Nagasaki University in two phases of the project “Establishing surveillance system for the risk of outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging insect-borne diseases in Japan and developing comprehensive insect-borne virus control system” (2016, 2017 onward) (research representative: Masahiro Hayashi, National Institute of Infectious Diseases of Japan) in the Research Program on Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases.

4) A nucleic acid amplification method known as LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification) developed by Eiken Chemical Co., Ltd.