We can manufacture 3 lakh improved COVID-19 rapid testing kits per day: MD of SD Biosensor

By Deepika Rathour Chauhan
Manesar (Haryana) [India], April 25 (ANI): SD Biosensor, a bio-diagnostic company, has started manufacturing COVID-19 rapid test kits here with a capacity to produce 5,00,000 such kits per week. The development is seen as a major relief for India as the infection is spreading at a rapid pace.
Speaking to ANI, the manufacturing Plant head at Manesar, Ansul Saraswat said, "We have government tenders in the pipeline. We have got an order for 1 lakh rapid testing COVID- 19 IgG/IgM kits. We have delivered around 25,000 rapid kits till now, the rest we will do by today or tomorrow".
"This is a rapid diagnostic test which requires capillary blood or serum plasma. The result of this kit can be seen in 15 minutes. We have delivered some kits to Chhattisgarh also and some orders are under pipeline and documentation", he added.
Further speaking on the production capacity, Saraswat said, "We started production of this kit from April 19 and till now we have manufactured 4 lakhs test kits among which 3 lakhs have been transferred to warehouse".
"One kit carries 25 tests, one test has two cassettes IgM and IgG. We are working on an improved kit which will have only one cassette, a combination of two," he said.
The rapid kit which are currently being manufactured and has been delivered to the Haryana and Chattisgarh governments is approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Meanwhile, the improved version of the test kit (the combined version) has been sent for evaluation, and its production can be started as soon as they get the license and go-ahead from the authorities for the same.
Extending support to India, Managing Director (MD) SH Kim said, "We are trying to support India in the COVID-19 crisis situation. We are working round the clock with the support of the Indian Government and prime stakeholders in this field."
"We can manufacture one lakh testing kit in a day currently. We are also working on the improved version also, following which in under a week, we increase the production to up to 3 lakh kits per day," he added.
Meanwhile, as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India stands at 24,506, including 5,063 patients who have been cured and discharged. (ANI)