Biocon arm Syngene develops ELISA test kits, ties up with HiMedia for production
- IBEF
- June 3, 2020
Syngene International Ltd has developed its own ELISA antibody testing kits at its research facility in Bengaluru and has partnered with bioscience firm HiMedia Laboratories for manufacturing and distribution of the testing kits.
The testing kit is developed by Biocon Ltd’s contract research arm. The kit claims that it has a capacity to test multiple samples together in a single run and generates results within 3 hours. Although, details about number of samples that can be tested simultaneously was not given by the firm.
The test kit will be launched under the brand name ‘ELISafe 19’ and will be manufactured by HiMedia at its facility in Mumbai and be distributed across India, said Syngene.
Though, Indian Council of Medical Research’s National Institute of Virology in Pune must first validate any testing kit before they are mass produced and commercialised, and Syngene’s test kit has to start the process.
“We will be sending the testing kits for validation soon. The process will start now," said a spokesperson for HiMedia.
ELISA, an acronym for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, is a test which measures IgG antibodies present in the blood against the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. ELISA test kits have routinely been used to detect HIV infection in patients.
COVID-19 can be diagnosed by RT-PCR tests, whereas, antibody tests are crucial to understand the proportion of population exposed to the infection, and are used for surveillance purposes.
This development comes a few days after the ICMR advised states to conduct a survey of exposure of their population to the novel Coronavirus, officially called SARS-COV2, using the ELISA antibody test.
An indicative list of different groups has been listed by India’s apex biomedical research body for adequate representation in the survey, which includes immuno-compromised patients, healthcare workers, security personnel, journalists, among others.
“At a time when the number of COVID-19 cases is increasing at an alarming rate across the country, there is an urgent need to make available reliable testing kits using advanced technology to test patients and identify positive cases. To fill this gap, Syngene, with its expertise across diverse scientific domains, has developed an ELISA kit that allows higher throughput and generates faster results," Syngene International chief operating officer Mr Mahesh Bhalgat said.
Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.
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