As the coronavirus epidemic is spreading across the world, a Thorold company is working hard to produce tests that diagnose the illness in patients. Norgen, 'Thorold's kept secret', as president, Dr. Yousef Haj-Ahmad calls the company he founded in 1998, has mainly been producing highly sensitive diagnostic tests for research- and lab uses, selling mostly to the academic world, pharmaceutical- and biotech companies. But a couple of months ago a new task presented itself. Haj-Ahmad and his team started hearing worrisome news reports of a novel virus that had emerged in China.
"When we heard the news of the corona outbreak it did not set off alarm bells, because no data came out of China about the mortality or infectivity rate. It did not become clear until it started hitting other countries," he recounts in an interview at Norgen's Schmon Parkway offices in Thorold.
As soon as the Center for disease control, CDC, started issuing alerts as well as standards for how a diagnostic test should look, the company moved rapidly on developing a test kit for the collection, stabilization, and transport of samples suspected to contain virus, kits for the purification of the viral RNA, as well as primers, controls and Master Mixes for use in detection of the virus.
By the end of this week, the first batch of 20.000 kits that look for covid-19 in patients will leave the Thorold facility, where development, manufacturing, and sales are being done, all under one roof.
Major requests for quotas have come in from both Russia and the UAE, both asking for 2 million test kits each - far exceeding what the company can produce per week currently.
What Norgen's capacity will look like for the test kits is still being assessed as the completion gets closer, but a rough estimate suggests 100.000 kits could be made in Thorold each week.
The list of manufacturers of covid-19 test kits is growing almost by the day as diagnostic companies want to get in on the market.
However, Dr. Haj-Ahmad says he does not see the situation as a chance to ramp up sales for the company.
"This is not easy money. We are doing what we can while the virus is spreading and harming people and the economy all over the world. This is not something we can live with."
He says he has seen it himself, first hand.
"I recently visited conferences in the U.S that were practically empty, and the planes were not even half-full. This is going to have an enormous ripple effect on the economy worldwide."
What the outbreak could offer is a chance to find better ways on how to develop antiviral drugs, as a vaccine could take up to a year to complete said the Norgen-president.
"That could change how we manage and control viruses."
As for the alarming reports and more common sightings of face-masks and empty aisles after customers have cleared out shelves of hand sanitizer, Dr. Haj-Ahmad says the issue is blown out of proportion, at least for now.
"It is better to be safe than sorry, but it is getting overboard. The intended purpose is to make people vigilant, but people are not attending meetings, restaurants or sports games. Airplanes are grounded. I say be cautious, but don't panic."
