Genotypic partners with PMC for distribution of rapid antigen, antibody kits

Genomics company Genotypic Technology Pvt. Ltd on Wednesday announced that it was partnering with Premier Medical Corp. (PMC), USA, for distribution of rapid antigen and antibody kits.

PMC is a manufacturer of rapid tests of various diseases such as malaria, HIV, hepatitis B and C, dengue and syphilis, and has ISO certified world-class manufacturing facilities in Gujarat. Genotypic collaborated with PMC during the first wave of covid-19 to develop rapid and reliable covid-19 diagnostic products that will help in screening SARS CoV-2 in less than 20 minutes.

“There is an urgent need to expand point-of-care testing to keep the spread minimal and decrease the waiting time for the results, thus enabling immediate isolation. Antigen cards are ideally suitable for securing educational institutions, workplaces and events. The rapid test will open gates for the travel and tourism industry to come back to business after the second wave of covid-19,” said Dr Raja Mugasimangalam, founder and chief executive officer, Genotypic Technology.

“We have been using the antigen and antibody tests to safeguard Genotypic, Dhitiomics and QTLomics workplaces. Genotypic has been working with several technology companies to provide SARS-CoV-2 sequencing solutions to more than 1,400 Indian covid testing Labs,” said Mugasimangalam.

Despite the scale-up for RTPCR testing of covid-19, with the staggering number of cases during the second wave, alternative options for rapid testing have been recommended and approved by the Union ministry of health. The rapid antigen or antibody test are affordable, portable and fast, fulfilling the critical factors required for a kit in this situation, and thus making them a desirable option. Rapid tests enable point-of-care testing of people in less than 20 minutes, help identify those who are likely to be infectious and isolate them, preventing further spread and enabling immediate medical attention.

Rapid antibody tests can be used in deciphering the immune response of a person, determining whether the person has antibodies for SARSCoV-2, typically after covid-19 infection or vaccination. Rapid antibody tests have also been used in surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, which have helped in identifying undetected chains of disease transmission.

Rapid antigen and antibody kits are CE marked, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) approved, and antigen tests have also been listed by World Health Organization (WHO) under the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) category. These diagnostic products have been benchmarked by Genotypic along with other government and reputed private labs for performance, and have shown higher specificity and sensitivity compared with other diagnostic products available in the market.

“PMC and Genotypic have collaborated to develop antigen and antibody kits for covid-19 to cater to the community to accelerate testing as per the new guidelines. In addition to this, we plan to co-develop novel proteins for differential diagnostics of various infectious diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, zika, and Ebola. We are elated to be able to work together to support the community in these testing times,” said Nilesh Mehta, CEO and president, Premier Medical Corporation.