New Delhi, Jul 15 (UNI) Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' on Wednesday e-launched the world’s most affordable RT-PCR based Covid-19 diagnostic kit developed by IIT Delhi and approved by the ICMR and DCGI in the National Capital.
Priced at Rs 399, the Corosure Kit has been developed indigenously and is much cheaper than other kits. The kit has received ICMR approval with the highest score and DCGI approved with a very high sensitivity and specificity, an official release here said.
Lauding the work done by the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT) Delhi researchers, Mr Pokhriyal said Corosure diagnostic kit was a step towards Prime Minister's vision of a self-reliant India. He said the country requires cheap and reliable testing for the country which can help to control the pandemic.
The HRD Minister said that the Prime Minister has always been encouraging the youth of the country to come forward and ensure a healthier India especially in the times of Covid 19 pandemic with their innovative research.
Also present at the e-launch were MoS for HRD Shri Sanjay Dhotre, Higher Education Secretary Amit Khare and senior officials of the Ministry.
The Minister appreciated Prof Vivekanandan Perumal and his research team of IIT Delhi for developing the Covid 19 diagnostic kit. The team includes Prashant Pradhan (PhD scholar), Ashutosh Pandey (PhD scholar), Praveen Tripathi (PhD scholar), Dr Akhilesh Mishra, Dr Parul Gupta, Dr Sonam Dhamija, Prof Manoj B Menon, Prof Bishwajit Kundu and Prof James Gomes.
He said this affordable detection kit will help the country amid the ongoing crisis. Corosure, the probe-free diagnostic kit, has been manufactured by Delhi NCR-based Newtech Medical Devices. IIT Delhi has given license to 10 companies to manufacture the kit using the technology developed by its researchers.
The diagnostic kit will be now available for use by the authorised testing labs with this launch and is expected to significantly bring down the cost of Covid-19 RT-PCR testing. The base price of the RT-PCR assay is Rs 399. Even after adding the RNA isolation and laboratory charges, the cost per test will be considerably cheaper compared to currently available kits in the market.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Khare informed that IIT Delhi became the first academic institution to obtain the ICMR’s approval for a real-time PCR-based diagnostic assay. It was also the first probe-free as say for COVID-19 approved by the ICMR. Wishing IIT-D success in their future endeavors, he said the assay was validated at the government’s medical research body with a sensitivity and specificity of 100 per cent.
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