Theragen Etex said Monday that its Bio Institute has developed a system that uses next-generation sequencing to the RNA sequence of Covid-19 and begun its service.

Unlike the existing diagnostic kits that detect three genes from the Covid-19 virus, Theragen Etex’s newly developed system can reveal 30,000 ribonucleic acid sequences of Covid-19, the company said. SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for Covid-19, frequently mutates due to its instability, but the company’s technique can confirm mutation, replication, and formation of RNA in the virus, it added.

“Experts can use the technique not only for diagnosis but also for the development of therapeutics, vaccines, and complementing epidemiological investigations,” the company said in a news release.

It also allows testing thousands of samples at once, where the diagnosis requires high sensitivity and accuracy as many infected people are asymptomatic or reactivated after recovery. The analysis takes only two to three days to see the result, and it can be done with very small samples, it said.

Theragen Etex recently acquired satisfactory results by conducting an accuracy test with a Covid-19 sample by using its newly developed RNA sequencing system.

“The company will first conduct joint services with universities and medical institutions, here or abroad, and apply it to develop antiviral vaccines based on the results of the studies that read Covid-19 genome and RNA transcriptome,” an official of Theragen Etex said.

To develop its antiviral vaccines, Theragen Extex has developed a method and program for predicting immunogens for virus treatment and has recently applied for a patent, it said.

The technology is based on a customized vaccine mechanism for cancer that Theragen Etex has been researching. It can predict candidate peptides (amino acid conjugation) suitable for developing therapeutic antibodies, including the Covid-19.

Theragen Etex said it would be reborn as an independent company with a new name, Theragen Bio, from early May.

The company plans to help promote new drug development and customized cancer vaccine research by domestic and foreign pharmaceuticals with AI-based genome technology, it added.