Korean diagnostic agent developers and manufacturers have recently announced the completion of monkeypox test devices but healthcare experts said there would be little demand for testing.

On Thursday, Wells Bio said it finished R&D of the monkeypox diagnostic agent, “careGENE MPXV detection kit.” Wells Bio is a subsidiary of Access Bio, a Kosdaq-listed firm with PharmGen Science being the largest stakeholder.

Wells Bio said the latest product can detect and distinguish Orthopoxviruses that include existing smallpox, monkeypox, and vaccinia viruses, and monkeypox virus found in western and central Africa.

Boditech Med and Seasun Biomaterials also announced that they developed RT-PCR test kits to detect monkeypox.

Genes Laboratories, a subsidiary of GC Holdings, said its new “GCdia Monkeypox Virus Detection Kit” could produce test results within 70 minutes.

Earlier, Seegene and Bioneer said they developed diagnostic devices for monkeypox, too.

So far, eight Korean companies including Humasis and Sugentech have jumped into the race to develop monkeypox testing kits.

The eight companies emphasized that it was important to detect monkeypox using molecular diagnostic RT-PCR products to prevent the spread of the disease.

However, health experts disagreed. An early diagnosis of monkeypox will not become common in Korea, they said.

Professor Jung Jae-hun of preventive medicine at Gachon University College of Medicine said that the development of testing devices was a good thing but there would be not much demand for testing in Korea.

“In the Covid-19 pandemic, extensive testing was a major strategy in quarantine but it will be a different story for monkeypox. People have yet to standardize the diagnostic method,” Jung told Korea Medical Review. “I have not heard of any extensive testing in other countries.”

Professor Lee Je-hoon of laboratory medicine at Eunpyeong St. Mary’s Hospital acknowledged the technological power of Korean diagnostic device makers.

However, he said the demand for tests at medical institutions would remain low.

“It will not be difficult for manufacturers with sufficient resources to develop test kits for monkeypox, but the local spread level is not high enough to require direct testing at medical institutions,” he added.