Namma Bengaluru innovators make low cost Covid-19 testing possible: Dr C N Ashwath Narayan

Namma Bengaluru innovators make low cost Covid-19 testing possible: Dr C N Ashwath Narayan
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SN LIFESCIENCES with Programmable robotic RNA separation machine, two isothermal test and one PCR test for COVID-19 diagnostics is being incubated at Bangalore Bio innovation Centre (BBC).

Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, Deputy Chief Minister, Minister of IT & BT, Science and Technology, GoK visited Bangalore Bio Innovation Centre (BBC) to interact with the researchers and innovators of the state who are working on various aspects of Covid-19 response.

Speaking on the occasion, he said “ Covid-19 is an unprecedented challenge affecting all aspects of life. Researchers and innovators around the world are working tirelessly to find solutions to contain this virus and we are happy to note that here in the city at our Bangalore Bio Innovation Centre (BBC) our researchers are seeing positive development and in an encouraging development our own innovators from Karnataka have made low cost Covid-19 testing possible.”

Explaining the innovation by the team headed by Dr. Harsh Vardhan Batra, Former DRDO Director and Outstanding scientist and Chief Mentor of SN Life Sciences, Dr. C. N. Ashwath Narayan said, “ Covid-19 is an RNA virus. In order to perform a confirmatory test, we need to isolate RNA from Covid virus contained in patient Samples. For RNA isolation from sputum/swab samples, presently imported kits are used that costs around Rs 500 for isolation of RNA from one sample. This separated RNA is then converted to cDNA, utilizing kits, after this, the real-time PCR test is performed to identify the cDNA which in-turn confirms the RNA of COVID-19 virus and the diagnostic result is obtained. The programmable robotic machine developed by SN-Life Sciences in collaboration with TESPA India, performs the function of RNA isolation from clinical samples of sputum/swab without using the imported kit, also this new machine can do eight samples simultaneously. The cost of RNA extraction gets reduced from Rs 500 per sample to less than Rs 150 per sample.”



He also added, “When joined with any if two SN Isothermal tests or SN DNAzyme test developed by SN Life Sciences in collaboration with Bangalore Bio-innovation Centre, Govt of Karnataka, total cost of the testing will get reduced to Rs 500-Rs 650 per test which is far less compared to the existing real-time PCR test cost of Rs 4500 per sample.”

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He further clarified, “Moreover, installation cost for the newly developed system from SN Life Sciences would be at least 5 times less when compared to the existing real-time PCR cost. In addition, not much expertise is needed to use the newly developed detection systems developed from SN-Life Sciences. Therefore, once evaluated by the Government, this system along with programmable robotic RNA extraction machine can be introduced in any hospital, clinical laboratory at a low-cost.”

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Jitendra Kumar, Director, Bangalore Bioinnovation Center said, “We are happy to collaborate with SN Lifesciences in development of the molecular tests, which we are hoping would be revolutionary in testing for Covid-19. We are eager to support any innovators and researchers doing their R&D on SARS-Cov-2 virus and the COVID-19 disease.”


Speaking on the occasion, Dr Vishal Rao U.S., Member -Consultative Group to Principal Scientific Advisor - Govt of India and Mentor for Clinical Innovations, SN Life Sciences said, “Karnataka is in the most crucial period to ramp up its public health infrastructure and is working on various aspects of Covid -19 response. We are thankful for Govt. of Karnataka which is extending its supporting for innovations and research activities in the state.” He also added “India should be at the forefront of research and make an active contribution to understanding and solving of this pandemic. This is the time when the best brains of this country can come together and make a sincere attempt towards creating a difference to humanity.”

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Health Ministry issues guidelines for RT-PCR pool testing for COVID-19

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) on Thursday issued guideline for RT-PCR based pooled sampling for migrants and those returning from abroad and kept in quarantine facilities.


Speaking on the occasion Sujith Shetty, MD of Tespa Robotics said, “We have used the latest technology with the right combination of science to fully automate Biomolecule & Cell Separation for multiple samples with speed and reduction of cost by the need of least amount of reagents due to the machine accuracy. With our first release, we can process 300+ nCovid-19 samples per day in a single shift.”
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