Covid-19 testing kit developed by researchers in West Bengal gets ICMR nod

The kit ‘DiAGSure nCOV-19 Detection Assay’ can meet the growing demand for testing equipment across the country to a certain extent.

A low-priced Covid-19 testing kit designed by a group of researchers in West Bengal has received the approval of ICMR, and would soon be employed to examine samples, an official statement said on Thursday.

Chennai: Medics arrange samples of a new fast test (Rapid test) for coronavirus at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital during a nationwide lockdown, in Chennai, Saturday, April 18, 2020. (PTI/ representative)

The kit ‘DiAGSure nCOV-19 Detection Assay’ can meet the growing demand for testing equipment across the country to a certain extent.

Priced around Rs 500, the device has demonstrated a near-100 per cent accuracy in detecting the virus in a short span of 90 minutes, the statement said quoting an ICMR report.

Developed indigenously, one kit can test up to 160 patients, it said.

The researchers, under the guidance of former CSIR scientist Samit Adhyay, put together the kit in a matter of one-and-half months with logistic support from Koustubh Panda, the head of the biotechnology department, University of Calcutta, the statement said.

The equipment was then developed by GCC Biotech (India) Private Ltd, a company based in Bakrahat, South 24 Parganas, following rigorous clinical trials, it added.