Noul to supply malaria diagnostic solution to Italy

Noul, a Korean diagnostic solution provider, said Thursday that it has signed an agreement to supply its malaria diagnostic solutions, miLab Platform and miLab Cartridge MAL, to major hospitals in Italy. These products will be used in general hospitals and malaria centers in Italy.

Italy is experiencing a resurgence of malaria, especially in the southern regions. It has been more than 50 years since the World Health Organization declared the end of malaria in Italy in the 1970s. According to experts, climate change is causing Europe to experience more frequent heat waves, flooding, and longer summers, creating a favorable environment for mosquitoes, the vector of malaria.

Noon's miLab Platform and miLab Cartridge MAL have won recognition in the international community as a malaria diagnostic solution that will overcome the limitations of rapid test kits and microscopic diagnostics at the same time by, for instance, being introduced as an innovative product to enter the scale-up stage in the official report of Unitaid in 2022.

In April, Noul’s product performance verification results were released. They show that the product has a sensitivity of 94.4 percent and specificity of 98.1 percent, which is equivalent to or better than that of a WHO-certified first-class microscopist.

"The Italian supply contract will be an important stepping-stone for our business expansion in Europe and North America, where malaria is on the rise again," Noul’s CEO Lim Chan-yang said.