E-Paper
DRDO lab develops Covid-19 antibody detection-based kit Dipcovan
The DRDO said that the kit has been developed in association with Vanguard Diagnostics Private Limited, a Delhi-based development and manufacturing diagnostics company.
A lab of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a Covid-19 antibody detection-based kit called DIPCOVAN. The kit can detect coronavirus spike as well as the nucleocapsid proteins of the virus. "The kit can detect spike as well as nucleocapsid (S&N) proteins of SARS-CoV-2 virus with a high sensitivity of 97% & specificity of 99%," the DRDO said.
The DRDO said that the kit has been developed in association with Vanguard Diagnostics Private Limited, a Delhi-based development and manufacturing diagnostics company. "It was developed indigenously by scientists, followed by extensive validation on over 1,000 patient samples at various Covid hospitals in Delhi," it added.
The DRDO further said that three batches of the product were validated during last one year, adding that the antibody detection kit has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in April this year. "In May 2021, the product received the regulatory approval from the DCGI, CDSCO, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to manufacture for sale and distribution," it said.
On Monday, the first batch of DRDO's anti-Covid drug, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), was released by Union defence minister Rajnath Singh and health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan. The drug has been developed in collaboration with Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Hyderabad and was granted permission for emergency use by the Drugs Controller General of India, earlier this month.
