Japanese precision chemistry firm Fujifilm Corp. is planning to expand its production facilities in Vietnam to make SARS-CoV-2 antigen test kits to serve the global markets.

At the Fujifilm headsquarter in Tokyo, Japan (Source: AFP/VNA)

An official of the Tokyo-based company was quoted by Kyodo News Agency as saying Fujifilm will invest an undisclosed amount in Fujifilm Yuwa Medical Products Vietnam Co., a joint venture producing diagnostic agents, in stages starting in the next fiscal year to build a monthly production capacity of 2 million testing kits. A date for the start of production has yet to be decided.

With its own technology used in the photo printing process, the kits can quickly and easily detect the novel coronavirus antigens. In Japan, Fujifilm plans to produce the kits at its plant in Kanagawa Prefecture, west of Tokyo, as it has applied for manufacturing and marketing approval to the state's examining authority.

Fujifilm Yuwa Medical Products was established in May in the southern province of Binh Duong, with Fujifilm owning 51% and Yuwa Co., a molding maker based in Japanese Nagano Prefecture, 49%. It began producing diagnostic drugs in November this year.

In antigen tests, doctors insert swabs into a patient's nostril and put nasal discharge on a testing kit plate to get the result on site. Despite its lower accuracy than the currently dominant polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests, the quick and easy method is expected to be used in airports and event venues as well as hospitals.