[Management of SolGent and EDGC, including EDGC co-CEO Shin Sang-cheol, third from left in the front row, during a groundbreaking ceremony for Solgent's second production facility in Daejeon, June 10.] 

By Jung Min-ho

SolGent, a subsidiary of Korean genome sequencing company EDGC, has begun building its second COVID-19 detection kit production facility in Daejeon to meet increasing demand overseas.

When completed near its first manufacturing plant in September, the new one is expected to be capable of producing kits for 30 million tests a week, the company said Monday.

The kits (DiaPlexQ) have been exported to more than 50 countries, including Germany and the United States. It has received CE marking, a certification that demonstrates conformity with health and safety standards for products sold in Europe, and emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"The company's first-quarter revenues this year have already reached 95 percent of revenues of the whole of last year," an official told The Korea Times.

Last Wednesday, 100 officials of SolGent and EDGC attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

"Thanks to SolGent's advanced technology and know-how, it could take a major step forward during the pandemic," EDGC co-president Shin Sang-cheol said during the event.

In a statement, Seok Do-su and You Jae-hyung, co-CEOs of SolGent, said they would continue to build trust with customers around the world with top-quality products and innovations.