New Delhi: Of the 14 companies that have approached the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for approval/validation of rapid antigen test kits for COVID-19, the regulatory body has okayed just one firm.
According to the ICMR’s status report, it has validated the test kit of SD Biosensor, an Indo-Korean company.
Among the other companies which have applied for approval, seven are Indian and the rest are from South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Belgium.
ICMR further informed that the kits of Camtech Diagnostics (Singapore), Agappe Diagnostics (India), Rapigen Inc of South Korea, POCT Service Pvt Ltd (India) and HLL Lifecare (India) are in transit.
With the number of positive cases increasing by several thousands daily, the government is stressing on the need to ramp up testing facilities.
The total number of cases in India has is close to 6.5 lakh, while 18,655 people have succumbed to the deadly virus so far.
