CSIR-CCMB, Apollo Hospitals to make dry swab RT-PCR kits

Bengaluru: CSIR-CCMB (Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology and the Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd. on Thursday announced a collaboration for joint manufacturing and commercialization of an innovative dry swab test, Direct Amplification Rapid RT-PCR (DArRT-PCR) - for SARS-CoV-2 detection. The test has been developed by CSIR-CCMB and the collaboration with Apollo Hospitals will focus on scaling up manufacturing and commercialization of the tests jointly. The rapid, safe and cost-effective DArRT-PCR tests will be available nationally through the Apollo Hospitals network.

Dr Rakesh Mishra, Director, CSIR-CCMB applauded this collaboration and said, "As people are getting back to their normal lives and businesses, it is important for us to ramp up our testing for coronavirus. The virus will be here for some time, it seems, and those who test more frequently will be able to contain the impact of Covid-19 better. Cheaper, rapid and easy to use tests as these are the need of the hour."

Dr Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group said, "As India continues to unlock, easy availability of cost-effective, reliable testing for Covid-19 is the key to getting back to normal. Widespread testing will enable quick identification, immediate isolation and early treatment to prevent spread. With nearly half of all COVID-19 infections transmitted by people who are asymptomatic, these easy and quick tests will go a long way in facilitating the identification of infected individuals who may be asymptomatic or presymptomatic. These tests will give a boost to the efforts to mitigate the effect of COVID-19 and will play a major role in controlling the pandemic."