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After 2-DG drug, DRDO develops Covid antibody detection kit

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By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an antibody test kit for the early screening of COVID.

DIPCOVAN, the DIPAS-VDx COVID 19 IgG Antibody Microwell ELISA for sero-surveillance has been developed by the Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS) in association with Delhi-based firm Vanguard Diagnostics Pvt Ltd.

Defence sources said the DIPCOVAN kit can detect both spike as well as nucleocapsid (S&N) proteins of SARS-CoV-2 virus with a high sensitivity of 97% and specificity of 99%.

“The kit was developed indigenously by the scientists, followed by extensive validation on more than 1000 patient samples at various Covid designated hospitals in Delhi. Three batches of the product were validated during last one year. The antibody detection kit is approved by ICMR in April this year,” said a defence official.

DRDO develops COVID-19 antibody detection kit DIPCOVAN. The kit can detect spike as well as nucleocapsid (S&N) proteins of SARS-CoV-2 virus.#AtmanirbharBharat https://t.co/ubsrYIxGyo pic.twitter.com/B356vaeKYG
— DRDO (@DRDO_India) May 21, 2021

In May 2021, the product received regulatory approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) and Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to manufacture for sale and distribution.

According to DRDO, DIPCOVAN is intended for the qualitative detection of IgG antibodies in human serum or plasma, targeting SARS-CoV-2 related antigens. It offers a significantly faster turn-around time as it requires only 75 minutes to conduct the test without any cross-reactivity with other diseases. The kit has a shelf life of 18 months.

Earlier this month, the product had received the regulatory approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation’s Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to manufacture for sale and distribution.

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DIPCOVAN is intended for the qualitative detection of IgG antibodies in human serum or plasma, targeting SARS-CoV-2 related antigens. It offers a significantly faster turn-around-time as it requires just 75 minutes to conduct the test without any cross reactivity with other diseases. The kit has a shelf life of 18 months.

Industry partner Vanguard Diagnostics Pvt Ltd will commercially launch the product during the first week of June. Readily available stock at the time of launch will be 100 kits (approx 10,000 tests) with a production capacity of 500 kits/month after the launch.

Secretary of Department of Defence (Research and Development) and DRDO Chairman Dr G Satheesh Reddy complimented the teams involved in developing the kit. “The kit expected to be available at a reasonable price of around Rs 75 per test will help people ascertain their antibody during the pandemic. It will be available in the market next month,” he said.

Once available in the market, the kit will be very useful for understanding Covid-19 epidemiology and assessing an individual’s previous SARS-CoV-2 exposure. Appreciating the efforts of DRDO and industry in developing the kit at the need of hour, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stressed on its availability in the market at the earliest.

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