DUBAI — G42 Healthcare, a leading health-tech company on a mission to develop a world-class healthcare sector in the United Arab Emirates and beyond, and Seegene Inc., a global biotechnology company specializing in molecular diagnostics, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding [MoU] to offer fully equipped mobile diagnostics and testing laboratories across the Middle East and North Africa region.

The partnership will offer the innovative Seegene Mobile Station — a laboratory-on-wheels facility providing optimized molecular diagnosis and tests at any location to safeguard the health of communities.

The services will be on offer across MENA, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and Yemen.

The MoU was signed by Ashish Koshy, CEO of G42 Healthcare, and James Park, Seegene Executive Director during the Medlab Middle East Exhibition — MENA’s largest medical laboratory exhibition and congress underway at Dubai World Trade Center.

The Seegene Mobile Station conforms with the WHO guidelines of BioSafety Level-2 and offers automated testing with minimum supervision. It has all essential equipment, RT-PCR reagents, consumables, IT solutions, and technical support for diagnostic testing, is transportable by ship or land, and can be made operational within few days.

In his comments, Ashish Koshy said: "We are proud to enter into a collaboration with Seegene which offers equitable access to healthcare anywhere in the Pan-Arab region. This is part of our joint efforts with international organizations to share our knowledge and expertise to future proof the health of nations."

He added: "At G42 Healthcare, our commitment is to uphold patient health and reinforce our credentials as a transformation enabler in healthcare for the good of all humanity. The mobile testing services will further augment our business portfolio across the MENA region and help in reaching out to various markets, ensuring swift detection, and allowing patients to benefit from the most informed decision possible, regardless of the location."

James Park, Seegene Executive Director, said: "Seegene is excited to be working with G42 Healthcare and contribute to the development of innovative solutions to bring healthy life for everyone by creating a new diagnostic paradigm. With this collaboration, we will join forces to serve the local communities with our expertise and resources. The Seegene Mobile Station will offer the most innovative mobile molecular diagnostic, testing and laboratory services and is part of our commitment to supporting the healthcare community in combatting COVID-19 infections, with a broad portfolio of research and development tools and diagnostics."

He added: "The Mobile Station will significantly contribute to the mitigation efforts as it will help governments to control areas where epidemics spread easily and to place the laboratory near crowded places, such as community events."

The Mobile Station also includes an equipment room and an extraction room. It encompasses a container with biosafety level-2 laboratory for the extraction room, collection device, instruments compatible with all Seegene assays, IT solution with Seegene Viewer, Reagent and Consumables, and technical support.

The all-in-one platform enables 2,000 tests per day including 225 pathogens in 10 different criteria and offers a streamlined automated workflow from pre-extraction to data analysis. — WAM