Tata Group Launches 90-Minute Test Kits To Detect COVID-19

On Monday, Tata Group launched a COVID-19 test kit that says findings can be processed more faster and easier than the RT-PCR system considered to be the benchmark for diagnosis at a time when cases in the country are still increasing.

As the Ministry of Science and Technology said in September, the nasal swab test, produced jointly by Tata and the government, is also more accurate than the rapid antigen test currently favoured in India.

CEO Mr. Girish Krishnamurthy told Reuters in an interview that Tata Medical and Diagnostics, the healthcare arm of the cars-to-clothes group, will start producing 1 million kits a month at its plant in Chennai and can then ramp up significantly.

As the product is called, TataMD CHECK could produce findings in 90 minutes and will be distributed from next month through hospitals and laboratories with the initial emphasis on the home market, Mr. Krishnamurthy said.

"In order to do the test, you do not need massive, expensive tools, therefore it becomes more affordable and usable, and more laboratories will begin testing," he said.

To test swabs, Mr. Krishnamurthy said, a method based on artificial intelligence and automation will be used.

 

India's COVID-19 cases have increased in the past 24 hours by 45,903 to 8.55 million, government data shows, with only the United States lagging behind the country's infections. Deaths have expanded by 490 to 126,611.

India conducts more than 1 million COVID-19 tests per day, ~60% of them using a quicker but less reliable rapid antigen system.

It seeks to boost testing to more than 1.5 million per day, but health experts have reported that their strong reliance on rapid antigen tests could under-report infections that usually detect the virus about 80% to 90% of the time.

Compared with many hours for the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique, antigen devices produce results in about 15 minutes.

"Our ambition is to make this a new testing standard," Mr. Krishnamurthy said.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.