Equine Biotech, IISc Startup, Develops Affordable COVID-19 Test Kit That Will Show Result In 1.5 Hours

The GlobalTM diagnostic kit, developed by a Bengaluru-based startup has received approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to become a made-in-India diagnostic test kit for COVID-19.

Equine Biotech is a startup founded by a faculty member of the Indian Insititute of Science (IISc) that has developed ths test kit. Test using the GlobalTM diagnostic kit test kit takes about one and half hours to confirm the presence of SARS-CoV-2 pathogen in patient samples and is being claimed by the makers to be more economical and reliable than the existing tests.

"Our startup has been working on testing for coronavirus infections for many years, even before the COVID-19 pandemic started. This experience has helped us engineer the kit for COVID-19," Utpal Tatu, the founder of Equine Biotech told LiveMint.

Referring to the process, he said the kit uses the Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) method of testing.

The testing kit developed by Equine Biotech is "sensitive, rapid, and affordable COVID-19 diagnostic kit" and is easy to use with 100 per cent specificity. The test kit shows results relatively faster than those available in the market, IISc said in a statement.

"Equine Biotech is looking to licence the above kit for large scale manufacturing and sale," the statement added.

"The agreement would involve tech transfer and support in manufacturing of kits. We are looking at med-tech companies with experience in the distribution and marketing of diagnostic kits," it further mentioned.

India recorded 88,600 new coronavirus cases with 1,124 deaths in the past 24 hours as the COVID-19 tally neared the 60-lakh mark, according to the Health Ministry's data. Ramping up testing in the country is crucial for tracking and controlling the spread of the disease.

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