TDB gives financial support to Pune-based firm for COVID-19 diagnostic kits' production

New Delhi [India], April 21 (ANI): The Technology Development Board (TDB) has approved financial support to a Pune-based company named MyLab Discovery Solutions for ramping up production of COVID-19 diagnostic kits they have developed.
"Work in the times of virus has taught us an unprecedented intensity of purpose achieved with speed, efficiency and quality, which should become the new normal post-COVID-19. Having a team of young professionals with energy and expertise always works," said Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary DST and Chairman, TDB.
The company had submitted an application in response to the invitation of TDB, a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), for proposals for technologically innovative solutions towards fighting COVID-19.
"Mylab Discovery Solutions is the first indigenous company to develop real-time PCR based molecular diagnostic kit that screens and detects COVID-19 from samples of people who display flu-like symptoms," Ministry of Science and Technology said in a statement on Tuesday.
"With support from TDB, they will ramp up the production of the kits through automation of the facility from the current manual process, thereby increasing its current capacity from 30,000 tests per day to one lakh test per day," it added.
The statement said that the company is expected to complete the automation within the next few months and the kit, which has been approved by ICMR and CDSCO, will be deployed in a very short time considering the national emergency.
"TDB invited applications from Indian companies and enterprises to strengthen the nation's core capacities in surveillance, infection prevention, control, laboratory support and in particular, the preparedness in terms of isolation and ventilator management of critically-ill patients for containing and preventing the spread of COVID-19 on March 20," it further said. (ANI)