I posted about sourcing #N95masks for #coronavirus in an earlier tweet, now here’s more about sourcing #testingkits, #ventilators etc. and how I got my kits. Supply-chain is fascinating. Storm 👇
There are multiple approaches to testing. The fastest is an antibody blood test I got. A more accurate approach is RT-PCR via a nasal swab. It’s slower since it requires a lab to process the samples. Many countries use both tests for each patient.
If you are trying to source the antibody test, most testing kits now test for both IgG and IgM in *a single kit*, and cost around $10 for each test. It shows results in 15 mins like a pregnancy test. Most of these kits are mass produced in China.
I read that on average the anti-body test has a 90% accuracy. The manufacture’s clinical study showed 98% agreement with the RT-PCT test. (Yes I read all their paperwork). 
Here’s a list of CFDA approved companies for this testing kit in China. Mine was from a trustworthy connection from the #8 company on the list, it’s a a public company and you can find a lot of information online. I ordered from their factory directly.
I gave a box of the test kits to an expert in San Francisco, he validated the test kit in his lab and is now working with his hospital partners to try to validate and distribute it in SF.
The obvious insight here is that if you are looking for any test kits from China or other countries, shop from the very short list of providers in each country 👆.Double check their certifications + paperwork.
#ventilators: Ventilators are perhaps among the most expensive and hard to test products. Ventilator testing can cost around $20K per model and take weeks.
There are only about a dozen legitimate ventilator makers in China. I was told only 3 still have capacity. Most of them are public companies so if you are ordering ventilators, do your diligence on these companies and pick a model that is certified for export.
The vast majority of ventilators in China do not have FDA approval. I have so far only found ONE model that is certified to be exported to the U.S., approved by the FDA, and it’s a German model.
Interestingly, there are lots of American Ventilators being circulated on the Chinese market, now they are trying to make their way back to the US. Philips makes some popular models and I think that’s what #ElonMusk donated. 👍
If the U.S. starts to accept European CE certified ventilators, there would be instantly a lot more supply. Factory pricing is around $7K-$30K per machine.
What am I doing with all the info? It makes us better investors when we understand details of the entire supply-chain. We also wrote reports on aspects of it - Custom and Trade Finance that we will publish soon. @BasisSet @JohnMannes @_changxu @reidcallaway @Rachel_S_Wong
Finally, there’s room for startups to help importers manage the US system with better and less redundant workflow tools. The FDA is just one of dozens of stakeholders that can be required to sign off on imports. /end
