The National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune has successfully developed the country’s first indigenous antibody detection kit for coronavirus. The test kit, known as ‘COVID KAVACH ELISA’, will play a critical role in surveillance of coronavirus infection.
The testing kit can test 90 samples together in a single run of 2.5 hours, which will greatly help healthcare professionals to proceed with the necessary next steps quickly.
Developed in a month’s time, the test kit will help in studying the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in the Indian population. The test kit is cost-effective, accurate, sensitive, rapid, and capable of testing a large number of samples at any level of clinical setting, public health centres and hospitals.
The biosafety and biosecurity requirements for this testing kit are minimal as compared to the real-time RT-PCR test.
India recently cancelled orders for about half a million coronavirus rapid antibody test kits from China after they were found to be giving out inaccurate results.
