China expected to lead COVID-19 antigen self-testing

China is expected to lead COVID-19 antigen self-testing, with industry-leading inspection results as well as strong production and supply capacity as the market opens wider, China Securities Journal reported on Monday.

The market size of self-testing products for COVID-19 antigen on e-commerce platforms may exceed 10 billion yuan ($1.57 billion) in one month, according to the report.

The National Medical Products Administration announced that the first batch of five self-testing products for COVID-19 antigen officially went on sale on March 12.

These products can be found on Meituan Maiyao, a medicine service provider of e-commerce platform Meituan.

Many chain pharmacies and other pharmaceutical e-commerce platforms also announced they are in cooperation or under discussion with approved pharmaceutical manufacturers to launch the products.

The antigen detection was added as a supplement on the basis of nucleic acid detection, and a trial protocol for novel coronavirus antigen detection application was also formulated and issued, the National Health Commission announced on March 11.

The five approved brands are all domestic companies, and include Vazyme Biotech and Beijing Jinwofu Bioengineering Technology.

The domestic market for COVID-19 antigen detection is projected to range from 17.7 billion to 26.6 billion yuan a month, with increasing purchasing demand, according to a research report by Zhongtai Securities.

More than 200 companies are selling COVID-19 antigen kits worldwide, and Chinese brands with strong competitiveness is expected to take a leading role globally, according to the report.