Zydus Cadila supplies 30,000 Covid Kavach Elisa test kits to ICMR for free

These test kits have been manufactured in technology transfer with ICMR-NIV of Pune for surveillance purposes, Cadila Healthcare said in a filing to BSE.

Drug firm Cadila Healthcare on Thursday said the first batch of 30,000 COVID Kavach Elisa tests manufactured by its arm Zydus Diagnostics have been supplied to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), free of cost.

A research scientist works on a testing kit for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) inside a laboratory of GCC Biotech, during the outbreak of the disease, on the outskirts of Kolkata, India, May 8, 2020. (REUTERS)

These test kits have been manufactured in technology transfer with ICMR-NIV of Pune for surveillance purposes, Cadila Healthcare said in a filing to BSE.

Earlier, the company had partnered with ICMR to be better equipped against infectious disease outbreaks, and help people, who are at high risk, particularly in distant, remote areas of the country, the filing said.

The company has been manufacturing and marketing a range of Elisa kits for detection and surveillance of rare and neglected diseases in humans and livestock, it added.

Shares of Cadila Healthcare were trading at Rs 344 per scrip on BSE, up 1.91 per cent from its previous close.