On March 11, the official website of the National Health Commission published the Notice on Printing and Distributing the Application Plan for Antigen Detection of the New Coronavirus (Trial) (hereinafter referred to as the Notice or Plan). The notice pointed out that if community residents have self-testing needs, they can purchase antigen detection reagents for self-testing through retail pharmacies, online sales platforms and other channels.
On March 12, the State Food and Drug Administration issued a notice approving the application change of the self-test application of new crown antigen products in Nanjing Novizan, Beijing Jinwolf, Shenzhen Huada Inyuan, Guangzhou Wanfu Biology and Beijing Huaketai Biology. Since then, five new crown antigen self-test products have been officially launched.
On March 12, the upstream news reporter ([email protected] of the newspaper mailbox) called Chongqing Peace Pharmacy for consultation, and the staff said, "At present, the retail pharmacy has not yet sold the new coronavirus antigen detection kit, and may be released to the pharmacy in the high-risk area first, and the specific retail price will wait for the notification." ”
National Health Commission's application plan for new coronavirus antigen detection (Source: National Health Commission official website)
Health Commission: It can be purchased through retail pharmacies and other channels
Upstream journalists saw in the plan that the plan made relevant explanations for the applicable populations and application conditions, precautions and other related contents of the antigen detection. Among them, the applicable groups of antigen testing are: one is to go to primary medical and health institutions for treatment, accompanied by respiratory tract, fever and other symptoms and symptoms within 5 days; second, isolation and observation personnel, including home isolation observation, close and sub-close connection, entry isolation observation, sealing and control area and control area of personnel; third, community residents with antigen self-testing needs. The plan also points out that if community residents have self-testing needs, they can purchase antigen detection reagents for self-testing through retail pharmacies, online sales platforms and other channels.
It is worth noting that previously, the main methods used in domestic new crown testing were nucleic acid detection and antibody detection. The National Health Commission pointed out in the interpretation of the plan that according to the needs of epidemic prevention and control, antigen testing is added to the nucleic acid detection as a supplement. Nucleic acid testing is still the basis for confirming the diagnosis of new crown virus infection, and antigen testing can be used as a supplementary means for screening specific populations, which is conducive to improving the ability of "early detection".
The National Health Commission released a schematic map of the self-test of the new coronavirus antigen (Source: the official website of the National Health Commission)
Chongqing pharmacy has not yet shopped, with a minimum of 5 US dollars abroad
It is understood that in overseas antigen detection technology is widely used in home testing, compared with nucleic acid detection, antigen detection is more convenient and cheap. In January 2022, the United States launched a home testing program, while European countries such as Germany, France, and Belgium have begun to use antigen detection reagents for home self-testing on a large scale in 2021. In the wake of the fifth wave of the outbreak in Hong Kong, China, the government is also procuring a large number of rapid antigen test kits for testing by different groups of people.
Retail prices for pharmacies in Cambodia range from $5 to $20 (courtesy of respondents)
Upstream news reporters saw on the website of IKang Biotechnology (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd. that the antigen detection reagent (nasal swab) self-test version of the product is divided into three specifications: 1 person / box, 5 people / box, 25 people / box, the product is currently only listed overseas. Retail sales prices in Hong Kong, China are HK$75, HK$350 and HK$1,500 respectively. Ms. Wang, who lives in Cambodia, told the upstream news reporter: "Retail pharmacies are sold, manufacturers have more brands, the retail price is between 5 US dollars and 20 US dollars, and the general specification is 5 people / box. ”
The domestic well-known antigen detection reagent manufacturer Jiuan Medical is currently at an official price of $6.99 per person on Amazon in the United States.
From the above data, it can be seen that the price of one-person test reagents currently sold overseas is generally between 30 yuan and 60 yuan.
Huang Ailong, president of Chongqing Medical University, analyzed in an interview with the media: the factory price of the reasonable range is about 5 yuan for 1 person, 8-10 yuan for 2 people, and the terminal price is not more than 20 yuan / person. But he also said: "At present, the cost of antigen testing is affected by factors such as production scale and raw material sources, and the current cost increase is relatively large, and the supply of key raw materials is in short supply." ”
Retail price of a brand of new coronavirus antigen self-test version (nasal swab) sold overseas (source: project screen official website)
After the notice of the National Health Commission was issued, how did the domestic retail market react? On March 12, the upstream news reporter called Heping Pharmacy, the largest retail pharmacy chain enterprise in Chongqing, and the staff told reporters: "I have seen the notice of the National Health Commission, and at present, the pharmacy has not yet sold the new coronavirus antigen detection kit, and may be put into the pharmacy in the high-risk area first, and the specific retail price will wait for the notification." Jianzhijia pharmacy chain customer service also said: "The company has not yet introduced the kit, and the retail price has yet to be notified." ”
Judging from the information obtained by the reporter so far, a small number of areas in the country have begun to distribute kits to residents as pilot operations.
Upstream journalist Feng Shengyong