To boost fight against COVID-19, CCMB to validate kits

Hyderabad : The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad identified by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to be one of the five validation centres for COVID-19 testing in India. CSIR-CCMB, the only non-ICMR lab to be a part of these Centres of Excellence, will now validate the non-US FDA and non-EUA/CE-IVD approved kits for COVID-19 testing.

This step comes, as there is an urgent need of COVID-19 testing labs in India. 'Lack of kits developed and imported from other countries necessitates India to develop its own testing kits. While multiple start-ups and life science companies across the country have been already identified for their ability to develop such kits, they would need to be quickly validated. These Centres of Excellence will be crucial in their validation, and approval for use for the testing centres in the country' a statement from CCMB said.

Since Mar 31, 2020 CCMB itself has been a testing centre for COVID-19, and has been working with hospitals across 33 districts of Telangana. It has also trained medical doctors and staff from government hospitals in the state. 'This new responsibility of kit validation will now enable us to support the healthcare and life science industry sector to bring all stakeholders together in this fight against COVID-19”, says Dr Rakesh Mishra, Director, CCMB.