Rabat – The Ministry of Health on Monday suspended the sale of Gigalab Covid-19 testing kits.
The decision to suspend Gigalab’s tests falls on the same day that the Ministry of Health published its assessment on the performance of the Covid-19 screening and diagnostic tests.
In its decision, the ministry called on the Casablanca-based laboratory to “withdraw the product Gigalab Covid 19 Ag Gold Saliva, without delay” from the market, and called on the company to “inform all health professionals of the suspension of the registration certificate.”
The company had publicly committed to wait for the “green light” of the technical and scientific committee before marketing its test. To date, the scientific committee has yet to give the green light, although the tests are widely available across the country.
The tests were available in pharmacies for a few days, at a price of MAD 100 ($11) per test, before the ministry ordered their withdrawal.
Since then, the Gigalab tests have been flooding the internet. They are on sale on pages on social media platforms, as well as by online parapharmacies through WhatsApp.
Gigalab was marketing its tests on the basis of the registration certificate it received from the Ministry of Health; the document dated June 3.
According to reports, health authorities considered this practice was in violation of the government-mandated provisions.
On Monday, prior to the announcement of the suspension, the ministry released Health Minister Khalid Ait Taleb’s decision to exclude pharmacies from performing covid-19 tests.
“Medical biology laboratories, in the public and private sectors may perform any type of biological examination for the screening and diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection, whether molecular biology, antigenic or serological,” said the document.
