Cipla's real-time Covid-19 testing kit 'ViraGen' to be sold from today

The Covid-19 detection kit is approved by the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) and uses multiplex PCR technology.

A real-time coronavirus disease (Covid-19) testing kit, launched last week by pharmaceutical company Cipla, will be in the market from Tuesday, the company said. The RT-PCR test kit is called 'ViraGen' and is manufactured for the country by the drug major in partnership with Ubio Biotechnology Systems.

Cipla will start supplying the Covid-19 testing kits from Tuesday, the company said in a statement. (Representational Image)

"This launch will help address the current testing services and capacity issues while reaffirming the company's ongoing expansion in the diagnostic space," Cipla said after the launch, according to news agency PTI.

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The Covid-19 detection kit is approved by the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) and uses multiplex PCR technology. "It helps to detect SARS CoV-2 N Gene and ORF Lab Gene with the sensitivity of 98.6% and the specificity of 98.8% as compared to a standard ICMR test," according to BioSpectrum magazine's website.

"This test is designed for the qualitative detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2 in the upper and lower respiratory specimens from individuals suspected of Covid-19," according to Cipla.

ViraGen is Cipla's third Covid-19 testing kit as it already has partnerships for antibody detection kits and antigen test kits. It launched ‘CIPtest’ rapid antigen test in December last year. Earlier, it had launched 'Elifast: SARS CoV-2 IgG ELISA' test kit.