Ostland passes over govt bid, will import Lepu test kits for direct sale to public
Ostland Capital Ltd, the company which won the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation’s (GPO) bid for procurement of 8.5 million antigen test kits (ATK) manufactured by Beijing-based Lepu Medical Technology at Bt70 apiece, will pass over the deal with the government and instead import the kits with its partner, World Medical Alliance Ltd.
“Ostland had given Lepu a THB30-million deposit and cannot wait for a government answer on the deal, which is currently on hold,” World Medical Alliance president Siriya Thepcharoen said on Monday.
“We will therefore import the 8.5 million ATK sets by ourselves and will sell these directly to the public at Bt75 per piece, only Bt5 higher than the quoted price,” she said.
The Lepu ATK deal had been put on hold following heated debate by the public, which stemmed from news that the Lepu-manufactured kits were banned in the United States due to a high risk of false results.
Last week, the Rural Doctors Society told the GPO that the deal might not comply with the Prime Minister’s order regarding the procurement of ATK sets in this present Covid-19 situation.
The order stipulated that antigen test kits purchased by the GPO must be approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Lepu’s test kits have not yet been approved by WHO for home use.
However, since the Lepu kits have already received approval from Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration, any party other than the GPO can import the product for sale in Thailand.
“Those who are interested in pre-ordering ATKs can contact us via the Line application @Morhello from today until August 31. The minimum order is one box [containing 25 kits]. The first lot of 800,000 kits is expected to be delivered by next week,” Siriya said
“In the future if the GPO wishes to go ahead with the ATK deal, we will order a new lot for the government, which should be no problem since the manufacturer is capable of producing 1 million pieces a day,” she added.