The entire world has been severely affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The severity of symptoms that occur during the COVID-19 infection can range from undetectable to life-threatening. The quick testing procedure involves antigen testing which provides the result for hundreds of samples within a short span of time.
The efforts of the Government of India have been commendable for making such rapid tests accessible and available to the citizens of our country. Several innovators and entrepreneurs have been working tirelessly for developing accurate, affordable, and accessible testing kits for not only providing aid to the healthcare workers in such tough times for easy detection but also for boosting the biotechnology ecosystem in India.
Under the aegis of COVID-19 Research Consortium, DBT-BIRAC supported product ‘SENSIT Rapid COVID-19 Ag kit’ has been developed by Ubio Biotechnology Systems Pvt. Ltd. for the qualitative detection of SARS CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein with an assay time of 15 minutes. The samples are collected using nasopharyngeal swabs from the suspected individual. This ICMR approved kit is a chromatographic immunoassay, which allows the healthcare personnel to visually read the test result.
The test works on the principle of sandwich immunoassay and utilizes a pair of monoclonal antibodies which when bound to COVID-19 specific antigen, resulting in the appearance of a colored line. The kit exhibits sensitivity and specificity of 86% and 100%, respectively, and has a shelf life of 24 months.
SENSIT Rapid COVID-19 Ag Kit has been successfully commercialized. Such quick tests allow healthcare professionals to detect infected individuals quickly, saving their time and allowing them to provide better advice and treatment to the infected individual.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Saturday, June 19, approved SENSIT Rapid COVID-19 Ag kit, a Covid-19 detection kit. The kit gives the test result in a span of 15 minutes.
About SENSIT Rapid COVID-19 Ag kit
‘SENSIT Rapid COVID-19 Ag kit’ is a Covid-19 detection kit developed by Ubio Biotechnology Systems Pvt. Ltd under the support of DBT-BIRAC (Department of Biotechnology- Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council), under the aegis of Covid-19 Research Consortium.
Test results
The kit can be used for the qualitative detection of SARS CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein with an assay time of 15 minutes. Further, the sample is collected using nasopharyngeal swabs from the suspected individual. It is a chromatographic immunoassay kit and allows the healthcare personnel to visually read the test result.
The test works on the principle of sandwich immunoassay and utilizes a pair of monoclonal antibodies which when bound to COVID-19 specific antigen, results in the appearance of a coloured line. The kit exhibits sensitivity and specificity of 86% and 100%, respectively.
Furthermore, the kit has a shelf life of 24 months. SENSIT Rapid COVID-19 Ag Kit has been successfully commercialized.
Boost to biotechnology ecosystem in India
The kit will give a boost to the biotechnology ecosystem in India. At present, the quick testing procedure involves antigen testing which provides the result for hundreds of samples within a short period of time. Further, tests by the SENSIT Rapid COVID-19 Ag Kit will allow healthcare professionals to detect infected individuals quickly, save their time and allow them to provide better advice and treatment to the infected individual.
About DBT
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), under the Ministry of Science and Technology, promotes the growth and application of biotechnology in agriculture, healthcare, animal sciences, the environment, and industry in India.
Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has collaborated with Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) to seek new innovative approaches to transform the public healthcare system. DBT-BIRAC is working towards the development of new antibiotics and the development of alternatives to antibiotics.
