Syngene pitches in with indigenous antibody test kits

Syngene International has indigenously developed its own ELISA antibody testing kits at its research facility in Bengaluru. The company has partnered with bioscience firm HiMedia Laboratories for manufacturing and distribution of these kits.

The National Biomedical Resources Indigenization Consortium (NBRIC) facilitated the partnership with HiMedia Laboratories.

While RT-PCR kits are the gold standard in Covid-19 diagnostics, rapid antibody tests are a globally acknowledged method for quick surveillance and community risk management.

Most of these antibody kits were hitherto being imported. But supply chains worldwide have been seriously hampered and diverted, and grave misgivings have recently surfaced about quality and efficacy of these imported kits.

The kits will be sent to National Institute of Virology, Pune, for validation. Their approval will be a major enabling step towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat in terms of enhancing testing capabilities. It also comes at an extremely opportune time, as the ICMR has widened testing protocol to survey for community exposure, especially among vulnerable groups, through rapid ELISA tests.

C-CAMP CEO and Director, Taslimarif Saiyed, also Convener of the NBRIC Governing Council, said: “As number of cases scales new peaks every day, rapid antibody tests, quick triaging and contact tracing will be of critical importance in containing the virus. Given the emphasis on indigenous manufacturing and self-reliance, the Syngene-HiMedia collaboration is an exciting development with potential far-reaching impact on our testing capacity.”

Constituted by the Department of Biotechnology, and hosted, convened by C-CAMP, the NBRIC is a collaborative public private partnership to drive indigenous innovation focussed on developing reagents, diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics for Covid-19 and beyond.