RT-PCR testing kits jointly developed by specialty diagnostic firm iGenetic Diagnostics and biopharmaceutical firm Biogenomics have received approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology, the companies said on Wednesday.
The kits are expected to be available in the market within a few weeks, iGenetic Diagnostics and Biogenomics said in a joint statement.
"We partnered with Biogenomics due to their extensive experience and expertise in manufacturing and marketing of biotechnology products. We have already received overwhelming interest and are exploring areas for ramping up," iGenetic Diagnostics founder and CEO Arunima Patel said.
Having a dependable kit developed in the country is crucial in these days of restricted movement, when global kits may not be easily available to cater to the increasing demand, she added.
"We are proud to be able to join forces with iGenetic in this fight against a raging pandemic," BioGenomics founder-director Archana Krishnan said.
The production of the kits is going on with full steam ahead and these will be available for use in the next few weeks, she added.
Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test is a nuclear-derived method for detecting the presence of specific genetic material from any pathogen, including a virus.