Polish scientists create coronavirus test, with production expected to start next week

A team of Polish scientists in Poznań have created a test for the coronavirus. It has passed testing and received approval from the health authorities, with production now expected to begin next week. The Polish government has already ordered 150,000 units.

“We will [no longer] be dependent on whether others are willing to sell us the test or not,” Marek Figlerowicz, director of the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznań, where the test was created, told Gazeta Wyborcza.

The estimated cost per test is 50-80 zloty (€11-17), compared to around 400 zloty for ones imported from China. Last week, Poland’s health minister admitted that the authorities had been having to “fight tooth and nail” to secure equipment on international markets.

“Production of the tests allows not only for savings from the central budget, but is also a matter of national security,” Figlerowicz added, saying that the scientists had worked day and night for three weeks to develop the tests.

The tests will be produced by three Polish companies: Future Synthesis, A&A Biotechnology and Medicofarm. The latter firm says it will be able to produce 20,000 units per week. Figlerowicz hopes that the 150,000 tests ordered by the health ministry will be ready within a month.

The scientists from the Poznań institute believe that their test is as reliable as others available on the market. Their product is also universal, meaning it can be used by any laboratory equipped to conduct genetic testing.

The outgoing minister of science and higher education, Jarosław Gowin, announced today that testing by the National Institute of Hygiene has confirmed the new coronavirus tests as “100% effective”.

The news boosts hopes that the Polish government will be able follow the recommendations of the World Heath Organisation, which has identified testing as the backbone of an effective response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Poland has so far conducted far fewer tests, around 100,000, than most of its European peers. The figure for Germany is 1.3 million. In relation to population size, Poland has conducted the second lowest number of tests in the EU, above only Romania, reported OKO.press.

The Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences has been conducting research on numerous viruses, such as HIV, HCV and flu, for years. The team, nicknamed the “virus support group”, comprises 40 scientists.

“Each army has its own special troops, something like GROM [Poland’s military special forces]. We [also] have such divisions in the Polish Academy of Sciences. They are the ones to implement innovative research, though most of the time they stay out of the limelight”, said Figlerowicz.

The team’s work on developing a test received financial support from the authorities in the Wielkopolska Province, where Poznań is located. They have also been granted 8 million zloty by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

Gowin, the departing head of the ministry, tweeted yesterday: “My last decision as minister was to provide the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznan with funding for the production of the coronavirus tests. May this great success of Polish researchers give us all some hope.”

Gowin this week resigned from the government in protest against holding presidential elections amid the current epidemic, which he argues would be a grave risk to public health.

Main image credit: Governor Tom Wolf/Flickr (under CC BY 2.0)

Agnieszka Wądołowska

Agnieszka Wądołowska is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza, Wysokie Obcasy, Duży Format, Midrasz and Kultura Liberalna