(ET)
Niti Aayog and the Department of Biotechnology have launched the Consortium for Affordable & Rapid Diagnostics (CARD) to scale up India’s capacity to make coronavirus testing kits. The move comes after India faced quality issues with Chinese-made antibody testing kits, which are used for disease surveillance and to find out how many people have developed immunity to a disease. Project CARD’s first goal is to roll out at least 10 million rapid antibody tests for Covid-19 by July. Additionally, capacity will be expanded to make reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and other paper-based tests for Covid-19 in the country.
“While India is strong in biopharmaceuticals sector and recognised as a global powerhouse, its domestic capacity for diagnostics manufacturing has lagged behind. To address this gap, this platform will synchronise all stakeholders for a common, urgent goal towards accelerating Covid-19 diagnostics in India,” Anna Roy, senior advisor at Niti Aayog.
