Recently, the global non-profit organization FIND released a tender announcement for a rapid antigen test technology for gonorrhea, targeting the public health systems of low- and middle-income countries such as Africa and Southeast Asia. This tender carries profound strategic significance and exerts substantial influence within the industry.

Gonorrhea is the second most common bacterial STI worldwide, with 82.4 million new cases in 2020. Africa and the Western Pacific region have the highest incidence rates. The current patient management based on symptoms leads to antibiotic abuse and exacerbates drug resistance. In recent years, the WHO has promoted the use of pathogen-based point-of-care testing (POCT) as an alternative to symptom-based management and has issued new guidelines.

The FIND tender is not only a business opportunity but also a catalyst for the transformation of the global public health system. If Chinese enterprises can break through barriers through technological iteration and cost control, they will achieve a leap from “contract manufacturers” to “rule-makers”, and at the same time provide a “Chinese solution” for the global containment of the rapid increase trend of gonorrhoea infections.

In response to this, Nanjing Liming Bio-products Co., Ltd. has deeply implemented the WHO's <Guidelines for the Management of Symptomatic Sexually Transmitted Infections> and actively participated in this tender. Focusing on the insufficient medical resources and low laboratory coverage in low-and-middle-income countries, especially in Africa, Limingbio has launched an innovative solution - the StrongStep® Neisseria gonorrhoeae Antigen Rapid Test (Latex Immunochromatography). This product reshapes the disease prevention and control landscape with three core advantages:

▶ 15-minute rapid to get the result: Point-of-care tests can be performed during the clinic visit for the same-visit test results for gonorrhoea infections.
▶ Ultra-high accuracy: Verified by multiple center clinical trials, its sensitivity and specificity are comparable to culture method (the sensitivity and specificity comparable to culture are 96.9% and 95.9% respectively for female endocervical specimens, 97.8% and 99.5% respectively for male urethral specimens), eliminating the possibility of missed or misdiagnoses.
▶ No cold chain transportation needed: Stable storage for 18 months at 30°C, perfectly adapted to the infrastructure conditions in Africa.

This tender is not only a simple product purchase, but also a major upgrade in the global fight against gonorrhea. Only by deeply understanding the shift in the WHO guidelines from syndromic management to precise pathogen targeting and transforming POCT devices into intelligent tools capable of both rapid diagnosis and monitoring the spread of the epidemic can one gain an advantage in this transformation.