IIT-Delhi launches affordable Covid testing kit priced at ₹50

The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) on Friday launched an affordable rapid antigen test kit to detect Covid-19 priced at ₹50, which was developed entirely by its Centre for Biomedical Engineering (CBME) led by professor Harpal Singh

The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) on Friday launched an affordable rapid antigen test kit to detect Covid-19 priced at ₹50, which was developed entirely by its Centre for Biomedical Engineering (CBME) led by professor Harpal Singh.

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The kit was launched by minister of state for education Sanjay Dhotre, who said the premier institute’s efforts have helped the country in becoming more“self-sufficient” in its fight against the deadly virus.

“I am confident that this technology will revolutionise Covid test availability in the country. I am glad to know that the kit has been developed entirely using the internal resources of IIT-Delhi,” he said.

IIT-Delhi director V Ramgopal Rao said, “IIT-Delhi first disrupted the RT-PCR market with a ₹399 probe-free RT PCR kit, launched in July 2020. Over 8 million high-quality PPE kits were supplied so far, using the technology developed at IIT-Delhi. Now, the institute is launching a rapid diagnostic kit, costing ₹50, for Covid-19.”

“Professor Harpal Singh and his team from the CBME have developed this technology and it has been patented by IIT-Delhi,” he said.

The minister also complimented professor Singh and Dr Dinesh Kumar and thanked IIT-Delhi for “helping the nation become atmanirbhar in fighting the pandemic using indigenously developed technologies and made in India products”.

Explaining the features of the kit, professor Singh said the kit will be used for in-vitro qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigen. “SARS-CoV-2 Ag Rapid Test is a colloidal gold enhanced double antibody sandwich immunoassay for the qualitative determination of SARS-CoV-2 antigen in human nasal swabs, throat swabs, and deep sputum samples. It is suitable for the general population screening and diagnosis of Covid-19,” he said.

“The identification is based on the monoclonal antibodies specific to the coronavirus antigen. The results obtained are qualitative-based and can be inferred visually with the naked eye. A SARS-CoV-2 positive specimen produces a distinct colour band in the test region… The absence of this coloured band in the test region suggests a negative result,” Singh said.

He said the test was “found to be suitable for early Ct values (Ct values between 14 to 32) with a sensitivity of 90%, specificity of 100% and accuracy of 98.99%, and has been certified by the ICMR ( Indian Council for Medical Research)”.

The institute in a statement said, “IIT-Delhi has filed a patent application for the developed technology and has awarded the licence to two companies in the country for its commercial roll-out. M/s Dia Sure Immunodiagnostic LLP is now entering the market with this kit, fixing the cost at ₹50 per test.”