Covid-19 testing: two Indian companies expanding its scope

Both Bengaluru-based, MolBio and Xcyton’s testing solutions could prove invaluable in a country suffering from rapidly rising Covid-19 cases and a stressed medical infrastructure

As the number of Covid-19 cases increase, there’s an urgent need for widespread testing in India

With currently-used Covid-19 tests all imported, two Indian companies could greatly advance India’s testing fight

Both PCR-based—the tests advocated globally—MolBio’s solution is handheld and can deliver results in an hour

XCyton’s, meanwhile, can even tell you which other respiratory infection it is if not Covid-19

More than the number of novel coronavirus cases, it’s the clamour for testing that has grown in the past few days. The WHO’s advisory “test, test, test” may not exactly be applicable to India since it has not seen community transmission yet, but it’s still a guiding principle in containing the disease, Covid-19.

On Tuesday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)—India’s apex medical research body—made it clear that it was broadening testing for the infection. It’s a graded response given the country’s creaking healthcare infrastructure. India is still in Stage 2—most cases are imported with no evidence of community transmission community transmission Community Transmission When a patient contracts an illness spread in such a way that the source of infection remains unknown .

AUTHOR

Seema Singh

Seema has over two decades of experience in journalism. Before starting The Ken, Seema wrote “Myth Breaker: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and the Story of Indian Biotech”, published by HarperCollins in May 2016. Prior to that, she was a senior editor and bureau chief for Bangalore with Forbes India, and before that she wrote for Mint. Seema has written for numerous international publications like IEEE-Spectrum, New Scientist, Cell and Newsweek. Seema is a Knight Science Journalism Fellow from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a MacArthur Foundation Research Grantee.

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