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The MAScIR Foundation of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) announced on Monday in Benguerir that the new «UM6P-MAScIR MPOX qPCR» diagnostic kit is ready for market launch in Morocco and across Africa.
Developed by a research team at MAScIR Foundation's Center for Kits, Diagnostics, and Medical Devices, the test has been clinically validated by the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, and registered with the Ministry of Health and Social Protection’s Direction du Médicament et de la Pharmacie (DMP).
The «UM6P-MAScIR MPOX qPCR» kit is an in vitro amplification test using real-time PCR technology to diagnose the Mpox virus (formerly known as «simian pox»), following the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO).
«We are proud to launch today our Mpox diagnostic kit, developed within MAScIR's Center for Kits, Diagnostics, and Medical Devices», emphasized Nawal Chraibi, Managing Director of MAScIR.
In a statement to MAP, Chraibi noted that the Center’s team, part of MAScIR's Medical Biotechnology cluster, has leveraged a decade of expertise to create this new kit. She recalled that the same team has developed over a dozen diagnostic kits, including those for tuberculosis, breast cancer, hepatitis C, and leukemia.
«This new medical test is now authorized for production and marketing», Chraibi added, stressing that this kit is expected to enhance health security in both Morocco and Africa, especially given the current epidemic outbreak of the new Mpox variant across the continent.
Prof. Abdeladim Moumen, Director of the Center for Kits, Diagnostics, and Medical Devices at MAScIR, explained that the test diagnoses Mpox according to WHO recommendations. He highlighted the kit's features, such as real-time diagnostic results, 100% sensitivity and specificity, and its capacity to perform 50 reactions per kit.
While expressing gratitude to all contributors in the kit's development and validation, Moumen noted that MAScIR’s production capacity for this kit is 6 million tests per month.
The MAScIR Foundation (Moroccan Foundation for Advanced Science, Innovation, and Research), based at UM6P, focuses on fostering research clusters in materials and nanomaterials, biotechnology, microelectronics, and life sciences. Its mission is to conduct applied research that meets market needs and to valorize research results through technology transfer and the creation of spin-offs and start-ups, contributing to the development of a knowledge-based economy in Morocco.
