COVID-19- IIT Delhi launches diagnostic kit that costs Rs 399

NEW DELHI: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has developed the world’s most affordable RT-PCR based COVID-19 diagnostic kit. The kit has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR) with the highest score and also by the Drug Controller General of India(DCGI) for its very high sensitivity and specificity.

The Human Resource Development(HRD) minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ who released the kit in an online programme said it is a step toward the prime minister, Narendra Modi’s vision of a “self-reliant India, Atmanirbhar Bharat”. IIT Delhi’s COVID-19 test was approved by ICMR in April.

Vivekanandan Perumal and his research team at IIT Delhi, including PhD scholars Prashant Pradhan, Ashutosh Pandey and Praveen Tripathi, and teachers, Akhilesh Mishra, Parul Gupta,Sonam Dhamija, Manoj B. Menon, Bishwajit Kundu and James Gomes, were involved in developing the Corosure testing kit. The corona testing kit’s price is Rs 399. It was developed at the Kusuma School of Biological Sciences at IIT Delhi.

Corosure testing kit

IIT Delhi has given license to 10 companies to manufacture COVID-19 diagnostic kit using the technology developed by its researchers.

In April 2020, IIT Delhi became the first academic institution to obtain the ICMR’s approval for a “real-time PCR-based diagnostic assay” for coronavirus testing. It was also the first probe-free assay for COVID-19 approved by the ICMR. The assay was validated at the government’s medical research body with a sensitivity and specificity of 100%.

The kit launched on Wednesday, Corosure, has been manufactured by Delhi NCR-based Newtech Medical Devices. Its founder, Jatin Goyal said they are scaling up production and “are anticipating two million kits by next month”.

(With inputs from PTI)

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