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Seegene introduces an exclusive diagnostic system for diagnosing COVID-19 variants at ECCMID

SEOUL, Korea, May 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Seegene Inc. (KQ 096530), a biotechnology firm specializing in molecular diagnostics has once again been recognized for its unique system for diagnosing COVID-19 variants at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology, the ECCMID.

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Seegene’s Dr. Guy Willem Lee, Director of Marketing Strategy introduced the diagnostic system under the theme of “SARS-CoV-2 and Variants ‘Full Screening’ Solution” using its latest COVID-19 variant diagnostic tests. “The backdrop of Korea’s outstanding control at the onset of the pandemic is because of the one-platform diagnostic system that enables mass testing,” said Lee. He added that “the system enabled the diagnostic process from sample collection through PCR testing all at once, helping local authorities to quickly control the pandemic.”

The effectiveness of the current diagnostic system, however had been put to question due to a growing number of COVID-19 variants spreading fast, with reports saying vaccines may not offer enough protection against them. The Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention have previously said variants are poised to drive an increase in new cases in the U.S. in May after having projected that the global COVID-19 cases will sharply increase over the continuous surge in variants.

Referring to Seegene’s ‘Full Screening Solution,’ Director Lee proposed that the system will efficiently help counter the protracted COVID-19 pandemic. The ‘Full Screening Solution’ is a one-step system that can verify whether an individual has contracted coronavirus wildtype or the virus variant with a single real-time PCR test. Currently, health authorities are forced to go through an extra round of genomic sequencing to distinguish the existence of COVID-19 variants after standard PCR tests, automatically leading to a more prolonged testing time.

Against the backdrop of Seegene’s ‘Full Screening Solution’ are the company’s latest variant diagnostic tests, the AllplexTM SARS-CoV-2 Master Assay and AllplexTM SARS-CoV-2 Variants I Assay. The AllplexTM SARS-CoV-2 Master is an ideal way of screening for the COVID-19, as it provides results of whether a person is positive of the COVID-19 or even its variants. After an initial round of testing, Seegene’s AllplexTM SARS-CoV-2 Variants I Assay will help identify multiple mutant variations in a single reaction.

The AllplexTM SARS-CoV-2 Master Assay can detect a total of 10 targets including four coronavirus genes (E gene, RdRP gene, N gene and S gene) as well as five defined virus variants notably spotted in the most recognized lineages including B1.1.7, B.1.351, P.1 and B.1.1.207. Seegene’s variant diagnostic test is the first such kind to simultaneously detect multiple coronavirus genes and differentiate virus variations, including those found to be more contagious and fatal. It’s an ideal and an economic way of screening coronavirus genes as the pandemic continues to rage with both the wildtype and its virus variants. Director Lee added “Seegene’s ‘Full Screening Solution’ will play a critical role in controlling the spread of COVID-19 pandemic amid fast spreading virus variants.”

Also at this year’s world scientific symposia, Dr. Nakmoon Sung of Seegene Medical Foundation announced outcomes of clinical researches on the detection of SARS-CoV-2 mutations, known to be associated with the variants, as well as the detection of coinfections with respiratory pathogens among COVID-19 patients. Among the COVID-19 positive cases, the proportion of SARS-CoV-2 with the COVID-19 variant associated mutations have surged to 3.5% in late February from the 1.2% a month earlier. Such clinical researches show that Seegene’s diagnostic tests are capable of screening COVID-19 and screen for variants with single PCR test. Looking at the coinfection cases, 8.8% of COVID-19 positive cases have also been coinfected with respiratory diseases including Flu A, RSV, rhinovirus, metapneumovirus and Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Reflecting on the clinical data, Dr. Sung said “swift diagnostic system is extremely critical in helping to control the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic,” and added that “the one-step and accurate diagnostics will become the global standard in detecting coronavirus and other respiratory diseases, for the purpose of accurate treatment”.

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Suns beat Lakers 99-90 to take 1-0 lead in NBA playoffs

ANKARA (AA) – Phoenix Suns took a 1-0 lead against the defending champions Los Angeles Lakers with a 99-90 win late Sunday in the first round of playoffs.

Devin Booker added 34 points, Deandre Ayton posted a double-double with 21 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Suns seal their first playoff victory in 11 year.

LeBron James played with 18 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds while Anthony Davis dropped 13 points and Dennis Schroder added 14 points for the Lakers.

– Grizzlies beat Jazz 112-109 in 1st game of series

No. eight seeded Memphis Grizzlies shocked top-seeded Utah Jazz by beating them 112-109 in their first game of the playoffs.

Dillon Brooks led the Grizzlies with 31 points while Ja Morant scored 26 points.

Jonas Valanciunas finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds as Kyle Anderson added 14 points for the winning side.

For the losing side, Bojan Bogdanovic scored 29 points, Mike Conley had 22 points, 11 assists, and six rebounds.

Rudy Gobert also played with 15 rebounds and 11 points, and Derrick Favors produced 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Source: Anadolu Agency

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Turkish Treasury borrows $1B through auctions

ANKARA (AA) – The Turkish Treasury borrowed around 8.36 billion Turkish liras ($1 billion) from domestic markets, according to an official statement on Monday.

The Treasury and Finance Ministry announced that 3.35 billion Turkish liras ($400 million) in four-year fixed coupon rate government bonds were sold on Monday.

The total tender amounted to 5.24 billion Turkish liras ($6.2 million), with a 63.9% accepted/tendered rate.

The Treasury said the term rate of the 1,589-day government bonds was accepted at 9.04%, while the annual simple and compound interest rates were 18.09% and 18.90%, respectively.

The Treasury bills will be settled on Wednesday and mature on Oct. 1, 2025.

In a second auction, the Treasury issued a five-year Turkish lira overnight reference rate (TLREF)-indexed government bonds – the first issue, quarterly – totaling 5 billion Turkish liras ($600 million).

According to the ministry, the total tender in the second auction amounted to 7.85 billion Turkish liras ($936 million), with a 63.8% accepted/tendered rate.

The term rate of the 1,911-day government bonds was accepted at 4.99% of the periodic interest rate, while the annual simple and compound interest rates were 19.95% and 21.5%, respectively.

The bills will be settled on Wednesday and mature on Aug. 19, 2026.

Source: Anadolu Agency

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Sales of electric, hybrid cars grow in EU

ANKARA (AA) – Trade of electric and hybrid electric cars in the EU saw a significant increase in 2020, with 1.6 million exports and imports recorded last year, the bloc’s statistical office revealed on Monday.

Electric and hybrid electric cars accounted for 14% of the EU’s total car exports and 30% of imports in 2020, according to Eurostat.

In total, the EU exported close to 5.2 million cars, including petrol, diesel, electric and hybrid electric vehicles, and imported 3 million last year.

“Despite the general decrease in trade following the restrictive measures taken in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the EU’s exports of electric, and hybrid electric cars recorded almost a fivefold increase from 150,000 in 2017 to 725,000 in 2020, while the EU’s imports almost tripled from 301,000 in 2017 to 892,000 in 2020,” Eurostat said.

Exports of electric and hybrid electric cars in 2019 stood at 355,000, while the number of imports was 740,000.

In 2020, nearly half of all electric and hybrid electric cars imported to the EU came from Japan and the US, with each accounting for a 23% share.

On the export side, the UK, the US, and Norway were the EU’s main markets with 39%, 16%, and 10% share, respectively.

Source: Anadolu Agency

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Turkey’s Borsa Istanbul flat at Monday’s close

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s benchmark stock index closed Monday at 1,452.18 points, up 0.02% from the previous close.

Starting the day at 1,453.69 points, Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 index has gained 0.34 point from Friday’s close of 1,451.84 points.

The price of one ounce of gold was $1,879.60 by market close, down from $1,884.70 at the previous close, according to data from Borsa Istanbul’s Precious Metals and Diamond Markets.

The price of Brent crude oil was around $67.90 per barrel as of 6.10 p.m. local time (1500GMT).

Exchange Rates Friday Monday

USD/TRY 8.3850 8.3860

EUR/TRY 10.2110 10.2490

GBP/TRY 11.9140 11.8960

Source: Anadolu Agency

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UDATE – Foreign tourist arrivals in Turkey bounce back in April

ANKARA (AA) – Foreign tourist arrivals in Turkey shot up in April, in a sharp turnaround from the trickle of travelers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to official data released Monday.

The country attracted 790,687 foreign visitors this April, ballooning 3,162% from the same month of last year, said Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry.

With the widespread introduction of travel restrictions and the closure of airports and national borders, in April 2020 the world tourism sector nearly ground to a halt.

However, as the virus persists despite fewer cases and aggressive vaccination campaigns, the improved numbers did not overtake the pre-pandemic level of April 2019.

Last month, Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city by population, was the top draw for foreign visitors with a 53% share, attracting 419,686 foreigners.

It was followed by the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya and Edirne in northwestern Turkey, which borders both Bulgaria and Greece.

Ministry data showed that the country welcomed 3.5 million visitors, including Turkish citizens living abroad.

– 4-month figure

In January-April, some 2.7 million foreigners entered Turkey, down 35.6% from the same period last year.

Russia topped the list of visitors by country in the first four months of this year with 552,048, followed by Iran with 194,384 and Ukraine with 187,029.

Source: Anadolu Agency

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Chinese smartphone maker Tecno Mobile starts production in Turkey

ANKARA (AA) – One of China’s biggest mobile phone maker Tecno Mobile has begun manufacturing in Turkey with an investment of $35 million, a company statement said on Monday.

“We plan to employ around a 1,000 people at our production facility at Istanbul’s Pendik district in the first year of trading,” said Hank Li, Tecno Mobile’s Turkey manager.

He said the company aims to increase its investment in the long-term, in line with its 10% share target in the Turkish market.

Underlining an encouraging and positive environment set by the Turkish government’s intention to attract foreign direct investment, he said: “We are highly attracted by this encouraging framework and visionary approach of the government to start this investment. We believe in the Turkish economy and market.”

A subsidiary of Transsion Holdings, Tecno Mobile is a major global player with presence in more than 60 markets across the world, especially in the African and South Asian markets.

Since the end of 2016, the company has been the partner of English football club Manchester City.

Source: Anadolu Agency

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US stocks open higher, on recovery from last week’s losses

ANKARA (AA) – Major indexes in the US stock market opened higher on Monday as they were trying to recover from last week’s losses.

The Dow Jones was up 145 points, or 0.4%, to 34,353 at 9.43 a.m. EDT (1343GMT). The S&P 500 increased 29 points, or 0.7%, to 4,184. The Nasdaq soared 142 points, or 1%, to 13,613 with Twitter, Moderna and Novavax adding 2% apiece.

Although the tech-heavy Nasdaq snapped a 4-week losing streak on Friday’s close, the Dow and the S&P 500 posted a second consecutive week of losses.

The recovery in the indexes came as the VIX volatility index was down 3.8% to 19.38 level, which showed that investors’ appetite has increased for riskier assets.

Bitcoin bounced back to $38,000 at the time with a 12.5% daily gain, after the world’s leading crypto briefly tanked below $30,000 last week.

US dollar index, which shows the strength of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.2% to 89.83 at the time. Euro was up against the dollar 0.2% with 10.25.

While gold was flat at $1,882 per ounce, silver was $27.78 at the time with a 0.8% daily increase.

Source: Anadolu Agency

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Hmas chief voices support for Turkey’s rapprochement with Cairo

ISTANBUL (AA) – Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh on Monday said that the Palestinian group supported Turkey’s rapprochement with Egypt.

Speaking to Haberturk news channel in an interview, Haniyeh said they considered Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Saudi Arabia as important countries in the region, adding that Turkey’s rapprochement with the said countries would affect the Islamic world and the Palestinian cause positively.

On Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ decision to postpone the May 22 elections, Haniyeh said they want the elections to be held as soon as possible, stating such a move would end internal disputes in Palestine.

He stressed even if Hamas wins the elections they will create a joint government.

Ruling out any aims to dominate Palestine politically, he said they want to first and foremost liberate the occupied lands.

Touching upon the normalizing of relations with Israel by some Arab countries, he said such moves legitimize the Israeli occupation.

Four Arab countries, the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco, signed US-brokered agreements last year to normalize relations with Israel.

The interview comes just as Israeli attacks on Palestinians, the fiercest in years, came to a halt on Friday under an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire.

Tensions escalated across the Palestinian territories last month over an Israeli court verdict to evict Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in favor of settlement groups. The situation worsened after Israeli forces raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque and assaulted worshippers inside.

The confrontation spread to the Gaza Strip, with Israel launching airstrikes that killed at least 248 Palestinians, including 66 children and 39 women, and injured more than 1,900 others. Health authorities in the West Bank also confirmed 31 killed in the occupied region, totaling 279 across all Palestinian territories.

Twelve Israelis were also killed in Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

At least 2,000 buildings were completely destroyed and 15,000 buildings became unusable in the Israeli attacks on the enclave, according to the Gaza-based Palestinian Ministry of Labor and Housing.

Some four mosques and dozens of police stations were completely destroyed in the attacks, while many factories in the industrial zone became unusable.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

Source: Anadolu Agency