Kenya's Kemri begins test kit mass production
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The Kenyan Medical Research Institute, Kemri, has started commercial production of the hepatitis B virus screening kit Kemri HepCell at dedicated new facilities in Nairobi. Kemri has been selling its kits to the ministry of health since 2002, but the decision to begin mass production marks a change in strategy and is designed meet expected growth in demand. It is predicted that Kenya will need around 400,000 HBV tests annually, and Uganda and Tanzania are also showing interest in the product. Currently, imported kits are used to bridge the demand gap not met by the Kemri HepCell kits, which cost around Ksh50 ($0.69), can conduct 200 tests per kit.