The hepatitis C diagnostic and viral load quantification qRT-PCR test, operating on open platforms and developed by the MAScIR Foundation teams, aims to provide practitioners and therapists with a rapid, efficient and accessible means to strengthen the health of their patients, says a press release from the MAScIR Foundation under the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University.
The Virquant RT-qPCR test for the diagnosis of hepatitis C will be produced and marketed by Moldiag, an industrial spin-off under the MAScIR Foundation, according to the same source.
Drawing on their experience of ten years in the development of kits and digital electronic diagnostic devices, essentially based on molecular and spectroscopic technologies, MAScIR Foundation teams have developed, clinically validated in Morocco and internationally, and obtained regulatory registration in Morocco of a first batch of diagnostic tests based on molecular technologies for the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of hepatitis C, tuberculosis, leukemia and cancer of the breast with HER2 marker expression.
These tests, which are in accordance with the highest international standards, provide a high degree of efficiency and precision at controlled costs.
They aim to contribute to safeguard the health security of the Kingdom and support the national strategy of generalization of medical coverage and access to healthcare for Moroccan citizens, and back up national strategies for the eradication of hepatitis C and tuberculosis, as they also seek to reinforce national strategies in the manufacturing of health products and health technologies.
In this context, although an effective therapeutic protocol exists and which makes it possible to cure 95% of infected people, nearly 1.2% of the Moroccan population remains affected by hepatitis C (400,000 to 600,000 citizens in total today), but the majority do not know that due to the lack of diagnosis and the complications due to hepatitis C, 13 Moroccan citizens die on average per day, said MAScIR.
Moldiag's mission is to produce in accordance with international standards and to market new molecular diagnostic tests for professional use and at controlled cost.
Since its launch, Moldiag has marketed more than 2.5 million PCR COVID-19 tests and has a production capacity of 6 million tests per month.
MAScIR is a Moroccan foundation which aims to promote and develop research and development centers in Morocco that meet the country's needs in advanced technologies, particularly in the medical biology sector.