The CSIR-Centre For Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has tied up with Meril Diagnostics for commercially scaling up the dry swab-based tests of Covid-19 samples across diagnostic labs in the country.

As part of the agreement, CCMB will provide its dry swab testing technology to Meril Diagnostics which is headquartered in Vapi, Gujarat. Meril’s Extraction-free Dry Swab Kit can be used to isolate the viral RNA from dry swab samples. These isolates can then be directly used for RT-PCR.

Hyderabad-based CCMB has developed a simple and fast method of dry swab-based direct RT-PCR which has been approved by ICMR based on their independent validation.

Simple variation of existing method

This method is a simple variation of the existing gold standard RT-PCR method and can easily scale up the testing by two to three-fold with no new investment of resources. “In this method, one can simply break open the cells by using an appropriate buffer solution and use them for RT-PCR directly. There is no need for separate steps of RNA extraction and purification,” Vinay Nandicoori, Director, CSIR-CCMB said in a release.

According to Rakesh Mishra, Advisor, CSIR-CCMB , RNA extraction, even with automation, takes four hours for roughly 500 samples. Viral Transport Medium (VTM) and RNA extraction both add a significant burden on money and time required for mass testing for coronavirus. “We believe this method has the potential of bringing down the costs and time of testing by 40-50 per cent in all kinds of settings,’’ he added.

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