Bhopal-based R&D company get ICMR nod for developing COVID-19 testing kits

A Bhopal-based research and development company has got approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for developing Real-Time PCR detection kit for SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19).

Blackbio Biotech (I) Ltd a subsidiary of KILPEST India Ltd, has developed the real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR detection kit) which is called TRUPCR SARS CoV-2 Real-Time PCR test. "The objective of the test is to utilize existing capacities without burdening any governments for purchase of new instruments or closed systems" said the director of the company, Dhirendra Dubey.

Dr Prashant Nag, Technical Advisor, of the company, told IANS, "National Institute of Virology,Pune has validated these kits. It had conducted 100 tests of the known positive & negative cases to validate and found 100 per cent concordance in the results. Procurement and shipment of the raw material is however a big challenge in this global lockdown, but we are working against all odds to make this happen. The company has already started manufacturing it and is ready for supply at this need of an hour."

In India there are only two companies so far which are authorized to manufacture COVID kits by ICMR. One is Mylabs and A3B Blackbio Biotech is the second Indian company to get the nod from ICMR.

The company is also known for launching India's first home made test for the last virus pandemic of H1N1, commonly known as swine flu. It was established as a startup under Make in India project and has received Make in India Award also, in the MSME segment in 2018. Real-Time PCR test is a molecular detection test which screens and detects COVID-19 specific genes and is a confirmatory test.

It works on any of the available real-time PCR instruments available with the labs and hence it does not require any new expense on new or closed systems. The test comes with robust internal control in all testing tubes making it one of the most reliable tests currently available in the market. IANS