Covid-19 test: Rapid antigen test kit made in Odisha gets ICMR approval. See details
2 min read 29 Jan 2022, 01:54 PM ISTA Covid-19 rapid antigen test kit developed by a private company in Odisha has received the approval of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)The rapid test kit can detect various variants of Covid-19 by using nasopharyngeal swab samples
PremiumIn a first, a Covid-19 rapid antigen test kit developed by a private company in Odisha has received the approval of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The rapid test kit can detect various variants of Covid-19 by using nasopharyngeal swab samples.
The Covid-19 testing kit has been developed by IMGENEX India Pvt Ltd, Bhubaneswar with intellectual input from Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC). The kit can detect various variants of Covid-19 by using nasopharyngeal swab samples.
RMRC director Dr Sanghamitra Pati said, “the IMGENEX India Pvt Ltd, Bhubaneswar first started developing the kit and RMRC Bhubaneswar provided intellectual support for in-house testing and validation. Subsequently, we submitted the proposal for approval."
She said the kit ImCOV-Ag has very high sensitivity and specificity and can detect all variants of Covid-19. The ICMR has approved the test kits based on the RMRC’s internal validation and a third party’s (an expert group from Kerala) report on efficacy and accuracy.
IMGENEX, CEO, Dr Sujay Singh said they started work on the kit in June 2021 and ICMR has approved it on Thursday following certain procedures.
He said with existing facilities, the firm can manufacture 2 lakh kits which can be ramped up to 20 lakh kits per month. Singh said that the kit is likely to be available in the market in two months.
Since it is the first such kit in eastern India, the states in this region can easily avail the facility. Singh said the market price of the kit will be lower than others now available in the market. The ICMR, has so far validated as many as 150 Antigen based Rapid Test Kits (including 31 revalidations), sources in the health department said.
Meanwhile, Odisha on Saturday reported 15 more Covid-19 fatalities, the highest in nearly five months, while single-day infections dipped to 4,842, the health department said in a bulletin.
The death toll mounted to 8,575 and the coronavirus tally rose to 12,41,068, it said. Khurda district, where state capital Bhubaneswar is located, registered 1,253 new infections and three fatalities.
Odisha had logged 5,057 fresh cases and 10 deaths on Friday. The coastal state now has 58,533 active cases, and 11,73,907 patients have recovered from the disease so far, including 10,511 since Friday, the bulletin said. It tested 63,871 samples for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours at a positivity rate of 7.58 per cent.
(With inputs from agencies)
