The world's first saliva pregnancy test kit will be on the market soon. An Israeli biotechnology startup recently announced that its saliva pregnancy test kit is scheduled to be delivered in the first quarter of 2023, and will be put on retail shelves in pharmacies in Israel, South Africa, United Arab Emirates and European countries.
This "saliva pregnancy test" kit is developed on the basis of saliva COVID-19 test technology, and it is very convenient to operate.
The company completed clinical trials on more than 300 pregnant women and non-pregnant women in Israel last year, and is now promoting the commercialization of this kit and starting mass production in an industrial park in northern Israel, with an estimated monthly production capacity of 6,543,800 sets. At present, the kit has passed the certification of Israel and the European Union and is waiting for the approval of the United States.
How to use saliva pregnancy test kit with high accuracy? Salignostics' saliva pregnancy test kit mainly includes two devices. One is a saliva collection tube, which needs to be put in the mouth 1 min before the test and rotated several times to absorb saliva; The second is a saliva detection tube. During operation, it is necessary to insert the saliva collection tube into the detection tube and connect it clockwise. Then put it on a horizontal table and wait for the reaction between the detection reagent and saliva. The results will be available in 4 minutes at the earliest. If the window at the end of the test tube shows "two bars", it is positive, indicating pregnancy.
Like the traditional urine test or blood test, the detection object of saliva pregnancy test kit is human chorionic gonadotropin. Salignostics claims that its saliva detection technology has high accuracy and can judge whether you are pregnant on the first day of menstrual absence. But the difference is that blood tests are often carried out in medical institutions, while urine tests face hygiene and privacy problems. Saliva detection has certain advantages in "user experience" such as convenience.
According to statistics, about 840 million "pregnancy test sticks" are sold worldwide every year, with an annual market size of 2 billion US dollars. Salignostics said that its market research shows that 68% of women will choose saliva as a pregnancy test method in saliva and urine tests, and its manufacturing plant in Israel can produce 65,438+00,000 saliva pregnancy test kits every month.
Salignostics believes that there are more than 5,000 known protein in saliva, which is the "second most important body fluid" after blood in medical diagnosis. At present, the company is also studying saliva test kits to detect the risk of heart disease, Helicobacter pylori and malaria. Professor Aaron Palmon, the co-founder of the company, said that saliva is the key to rapid diagnosis and an important non-invasive, simple and hygienic method to detect hormones, viruses and even diseases.