Mylab Coronavirus test kit has received commercial approval in India

A Pune-based startup molecular diagnostic company, Mylab, has become the first company in India to receive approval for its Coronavirus (COVID-19) diagnostic test kits, which are also called the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests. The device has been called Pathodetect.

The company has received the approval from the Indian FDA / Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to sell its kits to labs testing samples for the deadly virus. This is expected to help increase COVID-19 testing in the country.

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Mylab Coronavirus test kit to make detection faster

Dr Gautam Wankhede, Mylab medical director, has stated that their lab testing process will only take about two and half hours to get the test results, whereas the current lab testing takes around four hours to get the results. These testing kits will be able to study 1000 samples from large labs and 200 from the smaller ones.

Initially, the company is expecting to produce one lakh test kits every week before gradually increasing the production in order to meet the demands.

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Mylab Coronavirus test kit price

Mylab claims that it has the purpose of reaching the masses, and the company is committed to keeping its testing kit at one fourth the price of what the government is currently purchasing for. As reported by BusinessInsider, Mylab will be supplying the kits at around ₹1,500 per test. Besides, there will be an additional cost for the protective gear and other necessary items that will come with the product as well. However, it also notes that the final price to consumers will not go beyond the government-fixed cap of ₹4,500.

So far, India has limited the COVID-19 tests only to those patients with a travel history and ones with suspected cases. The country also ranks the lowest in respect of the tests carried out per million population which is currently 15 people in 1 million.

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Image credits: Unsplash | Fusion Medical Animation