Seegene, a South Korean biotechnology company, is teaming up with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) to conduct tests for human papillomavirus (HPV) on nearly 50,000 people in eight countries across Asia and Africa.

Seegene and IVI said they signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at IVI's headquarters in Seoul National University Research Park last Friday to conduct the tests utilizing Seegene's HPV diagnostic reagents. 

The study, named the Global HPV Burden Study, will identify the prevalence of 28 HPV types in women aged 9-50 years in three Asian countries - Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan - and five African countries - Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo - for up to five years from August.

According to Seegene, the eight countries are known to have a high disease burden from cervical cancer and relatively low access to HPV testing for women.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will fund the study. Other collaborators include the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (UK), and Sweden's Karolinska Institute.

It is noteworthy that the study will follow up on women aged 18-23 for up to two years to determine whether infections with high-risk HPV types can be resolved naturally or cause persistent infections, and to identify associated factors.

Seegene's Allplex HPV28 Detection, the only real-time polymerase chain reaction product that provides high- and low-risk genotypes and quantitative information for 28 HPV types in a single test, will be utilized for the HPV tests. 

Seegene's Senior Vice President, Shin Dae-ho, expressed his enthusiasm about participating in the study with the company's HPV testing product and providing evidence to help protect people's health in many countries.

IVI Director General Dr. Jerome Kim also said, "Reliable diagnostics are essential to infectious disease response, and Seegene's rapid development and delivery of Covid-19 diagnostic kits have contributed significantly to the pandemic response in Korea and around the world."

IVI is pleased to collaborate on the global HPV burden study utilizing Seegene's innovative diagnostic reagents, Kim added.