South Korean biopharmaceutical giant Celltrion Inc. said Monday it has signed an agreement worth 210 billion won ($185 million) to supply a diagnostic kit for the novel coronavirus in the United States.

Under the agreement, Celltrion's rapid antigen kit, Sampinute, will be distributed by Prime Healthcare Distributors in the US

The kit was co-developed by local health care firm BBB.

Sampinute won an emergency approval by the US Food and Drug Administration for commercialization late last month.

Sampinute is an electrochemical immunoassay test for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 antigen from swab samples, composed of one-time use test cartridges and a portable analyzer, the company said.

Celltrion said its other rapid antibody diagnostic test (RDT) kit for the coronavirus, named DiaTrust, also came out in the market. The test is co-developed by the South Korean in-vitro diagnostic company Humasis. (Yonhap)