New Delhi:In another achievement, the defence research wing DRDO on Friday introduced a COVID-19 antibody detection kit DIPCOVAN.
This kit has been developed by the Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), under Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), can detect both spike as well as nucleocapsid (S&N) proteins of SARS-CoV-2 virus with a high sensitivity of 97 per cent and specificity of 99 per cent. The kit has been developed in association with Vanguard Diagnostics Pvt Ltd, a development and manufacturing diagnostics company based at New Delhi.
The DIPCOVAN kit was developed indigenously by the scientists, followed by extensive validation on more than 1,000 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 Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in April 2021.
In May 2021, the product received the regulatory approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to manufacture for sale and distribution.
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.
The kit will be very useful for understanding COVID?19 epidemiology and assessing an individual's previous SARS?CoV?2 exposure, the DRDO said in a statement.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and DRDO Chief Dr G Satheesh Reddy have appreciated the efforts of DRDO and the industry in developing the kit at the time of need.(UNI)
