Medical Services International Inc has completed its manufacturing facility in Lagos, Nigeria. The facility has been completed in conjunction with the Company's Nigerian Distributor, M&A Concepts Ltd. The facility will be fully operational and commissioned on July 15, 2003 and will have the initial capacity to manufacture 3,000,000 test kits per year. The facility has been designed so that the production capability can be increased to 6,000,000 test kits per year as demand for the VScan test kit increases.
Medical Services feels that having a production facility in Nigeria that hires a significant number of local people, will give the Company a competitive advantage as there is a mandate to purchase from local companies whenever possible. The facility in Nigeria means that the Company will be able to meet the demands for its test kits without delay from both Nigeria and surrounding countries. This is extremely important given our recent approval in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The VScan HIV test kit is an accurate (greater than 99%), cost effective, easy to use, disposable diagnostic test kit designed for the initial, rapid screening of HIV1&2 and subgroup O. The VScan test kit gives results in under 15 minutes. The company also has rapid diagnostic test kits available for hepatitis B & C, tuberculosis (TB) and is working on test kits for West Nile Virus and Dengue Fever. The kits cannot be sold in Canada.