The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Friday unveiled a COVID-19 antibody testing kit – the DIPCOVAN kit. The kit can detect both the spike protein as well as the nucleocapsid protein in coronaviruses with a sensitivity of 97%. 

The kit has been developed in collaboration by the Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences lab of DRDO and Delhi’s Vanguard Diagnostics Pvt Ltd. It has received approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). 

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In a statement, the DRDO said, “DIPCOVAN is intended for the qualitative detection of IgG antibodies in human serum or plasma, targeting SARS-CoV-2 related antigens. It offers a significantly faster turnaround time of just 75 minutes to conduct the test without any cross reactivity with other diseases. The kit has a shelf life of 18 months.”

The statement further said that the kit has been tested on over 1,000 patient samples at various COVID-19 patients in Delhi, with three batches having received validation last year as well. 

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The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare gave regulatory approval for the manufacturing and sale of the product earlier this month, the DRDO statement said.

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has “appreciated the efforts” of the DRDO “in developing the kit at the time of need”.

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“Vanguard Diagnostics will be commercially launching the product during the first week of June with an immediate available stock of 100 kits. These kits can help in conducting 10,000 tests with each test expected to be available at ₹75. The company would later be producing 500 kits a month,” the statment read. 

“DIPCOVAN is intended for the qualitative detection of IgG antibodies in human serum or plasma, targeting SARS-CoV-2 related antigens. It offers a significantly faster turn-around-time as it requires just 75 minutes to conduct the test without any cross reactivity with other diseases. The kit has a shelf life of 18 months.”