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Covid too big to be tackled by Govt. alone: Pvt. testing lab
"Covid-19 is too big of a challenge to be tackled by one party alone. As all government resources are being used, if the private sector is involved, it would bring in private funding as well" Genelabs Medical CEO and Chief Scientist Dr. Chandanamali Punchihewa[/caption]
What are the new mutations you have detected in the SARS-CoV-2 virus through genome sequencing?
We have analysed the sequences of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that have been circulating in Sri Lanka in December and January to see whether they are the same as what has been reported in Sri Lanka earlier. Some strains from three clusters in the second wave were sequenced and had been reported previously. The report said they fall in a group called “B.1.42 lineage”. We also did the analysis with different clusters to see if they fall under the same group or whether they are different. We analysed samples from different regions of the country.
In general, they are in the same lineage as what has been identified in the country before, but there are ones that are different and have different mutations that have not been reported in the strains in Sri Lanka previously. These new mutations were identified in some samples in the US, India, and just a few other countries, but not in Sri Lanka. For example, the “NSP4 F322L” mutation and the “ORF7A V74F” mutation that we have found has only been found in a sample in Avissawella. That tells you one of two things. One is that the strains in Sri Lanka with differences between them could have come from different sources. The other is that they originated from one source and spread and changed within the country.
However, the change is important for multiple reasons and they may change aspects like the spread of the virus, seriousness of the symptoms, responsiveness to vaccines, and ability to detect the virus by currently used methods.
What needs to be done to detect if these mutations have made the virus more dangerous?
A lot more work is needed to determine the risks these mutations pose. You start the work with genome sequencing and when you sequence more viruses around the country, if you see more of it, then that would suggest that there are different variants with different infectivity. Scientists also do a lot of different investigations to identify whether the mutations have changed the virus in some way in terms of how it enters into cells or how it spreads from one person to another. All of this would need additional work once these mutations are identified. We will also be following these up, and we plan to do more sequencing, which will give us the possibility of identifying important mutations, including whether the vaccines we are to get in the future are responsive to those mutations. Also, sequencing is important in identifying the current detection methods that are used in the country, as some testing methods may not detect viruses with certain mutations, resulting in false negatives.
How do you obtain samples for your genetic sequencing and what is the technology you use?
Genelabs Medical did this sequencing with private funding based on samples we have obtained through the PCR tests that we conduct for the detection of Covid-19. About 500 such tests are conducted daily at our lab. We also worked with two scientists from KDU (General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University), Dr. Dharshan De Silva and Dr. Himali Jayasinghearachchi, who evaluated our data, and we hope to keep collaborating with them in the future in this work.
We have also done this with no international funding. We started doing next-generation sequencing, which is used to do sequencing on the SARS-CoV-2 virus in 2018, before Covid-19 came into the picture. We were using the same technology to do a lot of tests that were not available in Sri Lanka, such as for cancer and other conditions like identifying abnormalities in babies during pregnancies. Using this technology for SARS-CoV-2 was something we began recently.
We were not the first to get the gene sequencing facility in Sri Lanka. There were two other facilities, of which one was in the University of Colombo. The University of Sri Jayewardenepura got it last year. However, the technology is underutilised in Sri Lanka, where it is not used to conduct tests on all various conditions this technology is used to test worldwide. We have the same technology the University of Sri Jayewardenepura is currently using, although they are from different platforms, in the sense that they are machinery from different companies.
The analysis work around genome sequencing requires what is called bioinformatics analysis. Our plan is to be able to have a world-class set up where we do the experimental work while the bioinformatics part is to be done by an information technology (IT) company, for which we are collaborating with Fortunaglobal. With them involved in the bioinformatics part, we will be able to identify whether there are other different mutations, where else these mutations would be seen, and how they would be relevant to the outcome of the infection.
Do you think the Government should get the private sector more involved in Covid-19 response and testing?
I think in any research or clinical work, the involvement of the private sector will be very beneficial for the Government as well as the general public. Covid-19 is too big of a challenge to be tackled by one party alone. As all government resources are being used, if the private sector is involved, it would bring in private funding as well. The expertise is also available in both sectors and it is difficult to find the expertise in one sector alone. The private sector also has the know-how.
In general, private sector involvement is less as of now. When it comes to sequencing, only the University of Sri Jayewardenepura is doing it for SARS-CoV-2 right now. The private sector involvement can be harnessed by the Government more than it is being done now.
What plans do you have as a private sector entity for the future medical and scientific landscape in Sri Lanka in general as well as in terms of Covid-19 response?
The vision for Genelabs in the future is to develop a world-class setup where we have the complete solutions in Sri Lanka. We are very advanced in terms of IT, but the connection between IT and biotechnology has not been well established. In some other Asian countries, the technology we use is not available at all. So if this connection is made, it will open Sri Lanka to doing international business in this field.
We do want to continue to do diagnostic testing in all fields including infectious diseases, oncology, and prenatal medicine which is very critical in current healthcare. We want to be involved in healthcare as much as possible as the private sector. Apart from that, we hope to contribute to the overall understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Sri Lanka by continuing with whole genome sequencing.