Union Human Resources Development Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' e-launched the world's most affordable RT-PCR based COVID-19 diagnostic kit. It has been developed by IIT Delhi and approved by the ICMR and DCGI.
The Union Minister in a statement said that the kit named Corosure is a step towards the Prime Minister's vision of a self-reliant nation.??
He also said that the country needs cheap and reliable testing for the people which will further help to control the novel pandemic coronavirus. The Corosure kit is much cheaper compared to other kits and the HRD Ministry praised the hard work done by the team from IIT.
The team includes?Prashant Pradhan (PhD Scholar), Ashutosh Pandey (PhD Scholar), Praveen Tripathi (PhD Scholar), Dr. Akhilesh Mishra, Dr. Parul Gupta, Dr. Sonam Dhamija, Prof. Manoj B. Menon, Prof. Bishwajit Kundu and Prof. James Gomes.??
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The kit will be available for use by the authorised testing labs and the ministry believes that this step will play a significant role in bringing down the cost of COVID-19 RT-PCR testing. The base price of the RT-PCR testing is Rs 399 and even after the RNA isolation and laboratory charges are added, the cost per test will be cheaper than any other kit which is available in the market.??
IIT Delhi has given license to 10 companies to manufacture COVID-19 diagnostic kits using the technology developed by its researchers.? ?
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During the launch of the kit,?Prof V. Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi said,?¡°IIT Delhi is thankful for the support it has received from the Indian government, HRD Ministry, Health Ministry and the ICMR for the development and manufacturing of the affordable kit. Our researchers will continue to focus on COVID-19 related research and development to help the country as well as the world in the fight against coronavirus.¡°