HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach^[1] - 15 February 2022 - Medriva™ COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test Kits will be made available across Hong Kong through its partnership with Mannings, announced by leading global medical product supplier ProcureNet.

The Company will launch its Medriva™ COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test Kit at Mannings, the largest pharmacy chain in Hong Kong with 366 stores as the city fights its biggest battle with the pandemic.

The agreement comes days after Medriva won TGA approval by the Australian Government to market and sell the Medriva COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test Kit, which provides quick and easy detection via a nasal swab of a COVID-19 viral infection.

Medriva is one of the most effective test kits on the market, having a 95% "sensitivity rate" and a 99% "relative specificity" rate. Its overall effectiveness is 97%. The results meet the World Health Organization's recommended performance standards.

"Mannings has rigorously assessed our antigen test kit for safety, quality and effectiveness," commented ProcureNet chief executive Gurbaksh Chahal. Founded in 2020, Medriva had a successful launch through its strong government partner network, including organizations such as WHO, UNICEF, Health Canada, Italy, Hong Kong, Turkey, and over a dozen states in the USA.

"Mannings' distribution enables us to supply the Medriva Antigen Test Kit to help Hong Kong residents in their early detection of the virus and provides ProcureNet with the opportunity to scale up to meet future demand there."

He added: "We look forward to teaming up with Mannings to prevent the spread in Hong Kong. This will provide residents with the most cost-effective solution on the market and added assurance during the latest Omicron outbreak."

On Monday, the city was hit with another record-breaking 2,071 new confirmed cases and about 4,500 preliminary infections. The test kits availability will also mean Hong Kong locals no longer have to face eight-hour waits for kits.

The Company will donate $4 million worth of Rapid Antigen Test Kits to the following NGOs to help distribute rapid antigen test kits to underprivileged communities: The Community Chest of Hong Kong, Caritas Hong Kong, Hong Kong Red Cross and Pok Oi Hospital. The kits will be distributed amongst the community and shared amongst the front-line staff assisting patients during the pandemic.

Chahal said, "Hong Kong has a special place in all of our hearts, and this is just a small token of our gratitude to help this city recover from the recent Omicron wave. We look forward to working with these NGOs at the grassroots level to help distribute these test kits to the underprivileged groups to ease any burden for the well being of the community."

As countries begin to live with COVID-19, mass rapid testing becomes the main tool to control future outbreaks. Eliminating the virus through stringent lockdown and quarantine measures, and treating it as endemic, are often discussed as mutually exclusive strategies. Frequent and widespread adoption of at-home antigen rapid testing could offer the best of both worlds. And, we look forward to helping Hong Kongers by bringing the most cost-effective diagnostic solutions to them.

Chahal asserted: "Whatever we do now is preparation for the next variant wave or future pandemics. Self-testing is already as easy as other hygiene routines, like brushing teeth. We know it can be made as cheap as a daily commute. When that happens, we can crush the pandemic with a new kind of 'MRT': mass rapid testing," said Chahal.

The company will extend its production capacity of 60 million rapid antigen test kits per month to Hong Kong. Medriva also plans to make the kits available on Amazon, HKTVMall, and other pharmacies in Hong Kong.

Learn more about Medriva's Self-Test Kit: https://medriva.com/^[2].

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} https://medriva.com/ (medriva.com)