Nagpurian is proud to be part of the team behind India’s first Covid-19 test kit.
Nagpur: Finally, India is all set to get the first batch of Covid-19 indigenous research kits on March 25. This may be the biggest turning point in the battle against coronavirus outbreaks because our test capability would increase significantly. Interestingly, one of the brains behind the creation of this ‘Made in India’ diagnostic kit is Dr. Gautam Wankhede, a Nagpurian.
A graduate of the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Dr. Wankhede is educated in the United Kingdom, where he specializes in transfusion medicine. He is the son of Dr. Ravi Wankhede, who was a pioneer in the preparation and use of blood components in Central India in 1989 and later led the Zonal Transplant Coordination Center (ZTCC), Nagpur, as its secretary for several years.
“Mylabs is planning to produce the first batch by Thursday. We currently have a production capacity of 15.000 tests a day and we will soon be rising it to 25.000, “said Dr. Wankhede. This is credited with introducing some pathbreaking developments in India, such as molecular blood grouping and antenatal red cell antibody screening.
“We already have raw materials and have been developing molecular diagnostics for the last three to four years. So, we can start supplying the kits right away. Many of the components used in our kit come from India, “he said. A few products are imported from other countries, but not from China.
Apart from Mylabs, the German company Altona Diagnostics has applied for an import license from the Drug Controller General of India. But this company will not be able to start shipping lab kits before next week.
Talking to TOI, his proud father, Dr. Ravi, said, “Gautam was inspired to take transfusion medication as he followed our blood bank activities very closely. After coming back from the UK, he worked with Fortis-Escorts Hospital and then went on to the industry side, “he said.
Dr. Gautam has been active in the production and patenting of the Haemovigil Transfusion Safety Program, which is currently being used in leading hospitals across India. Most of the country’s renowned laboratories use ID-NAT screening kits for blood banks/hospitals, quantitative HIV, HBV and HCV kits, all developed under his supervision.
Mylab aims at generating up to 1 lakh test every week. Furthermore, the company says that its test kits are capable of evaluating approximately 100 patients with a single sample. An average laboratory with automated PCR can examine more than 1,000 patients a day.
Matter of pride Mylab is the first Indian company to get commercial Covid-19 PCR kit approved by CDSCO Mylab Covid-19 test kits to cost nearly one- (up to Rs1,500) of currently purchased kits It uses advanced protocols that can reduce testing time by 65% and yield results in 2.5 hours This kit can detect coronavirus with the least chance of false positivity.
