ICMR approves IIT-Delhi's COVID-19 detection assay

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Thursday approved detection assay for COVID-19, which has been developed by researchers at IIT-Delhi's Kusuma School of Biological Sciences (KSBS).

"The assay has been validated at the ICMR with a sensitivity and specificity of 100 per cent. This makes IIT-Delhi the first academic institute to have obtained ICMR approval for a real-time PCR-based diagnostic assay," said IIT-D in a statement.

This is the first probe-free assay for COVID-19 approved by the ICMR and it will be useful for specific and affordable high throughput testing.

This can easily be scaled up as it does not require fluorescent probes. The team is targeting large scale deployment of the kit at affordable prices with suitable industrial partners as soon as possible.

( With inputs from ANI )