COVID-19 tests: CSIR-CCMB and Apollo Hospitals join hands for development of rapid, cost-effective kits

Hyderabad: In yet another endeavour to bring down the cost of COVID-19 testing, Hyderabad-based CSIR-Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB) and the Apollo Hospitals Enterprise on Thursday (December 10) 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.  

The DArRT-PCR test allows for rapid, safer and more cost-effective SARS-COV-2 testing. The sample collection centres can send dry nasal or oropharyngeal swabs to testing centres with no need for the imported and expensive Viral Transport Medium. The biological sample can be directly isolated from the patient swabs, and testing using a one-step protocol. 

The current gold-standard method, on the contrary, requires many expensive reagents and steps that add to the expertise, money and time required for the tests. The DArRT-PCR test reduces the time and human effort by 40-50% in the current setting of testing. 

“As people are getting back to their normal lives and businesses, it is important for us to ramp up our testing for the 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, accurate and easy to use tests as these are the need of the hour. With Apollo and its vast network of hospitals and health services, we expect impacting many lives towards better health,” Dr Rakesh Mishra, Director, CCMB said.

According to Apollo Hospitals, this initiative is inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' pitch.

“Co-creating and commercialising an Indian solution in line with our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat is an important landmark for Apollo Hospitals. 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," said Dr Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals.

"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,” Dr Sangita Reddy added.