An indigenous RT-PCR diagnostic kit has been developed by a start-up incubated at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.). The test kit, based on reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), has been approved for use in authorised COVID-19 diagnostic labs by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Developed by Equine Biotech, founded by Utpal Tatu, professor in the Department of Biochemistry, IISc., the test using the “Global diagnostic kit” takes about one-and-a-half hours to confirm the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in patient samples, and its run time is shorter compared with the kits available in the industry, according to its founders. The company is currently seeking to licence its new COVID-19 test kit and work with med-tech companies and other industries for mass production, marketing, and distribution of these kits.
“Our start-up 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,” an IISc. release quoted Prof. Tatu as saying.
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Mass produced
With COVID-19 becoming a global pandemic, and India climbing up the case chart to number two, ramping up testing in the country is crucial for tracking and controlling the spread of the infectious disease.
“India needs home-grown diagnostics kits that can easily be mass produced and made accessible to a larger population. But so far, only a few Indian companies have developed reliable and accurate RT-PCR kits; most of the kits used widely are imported, and therefore expensive,” the release stated.
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Explaining how RT-PCR works, the IISc. release stated that RNA — the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2 — is transcribed into complementary DNA by a process called reverse transcription, and then amplified. The PCR reaction is monitored in real time with the help of a fluorescent DNA-binding dye. The degree of fluorescence indicates the severity of the infection.
The company, which has been working on infectious diseases, including zoonotic diseases, since 30 years, has previously developed diagnostic tests for screening livestock, especially cattle and horses, for blood parasitic diseases such as trypanosomiasis, trichomoniasis, theileriosis, and babesiosis, the release added.