HLL Lifecare’s rapid antibody testing kits fail quality test

TNN | May 1, 2020, 04:28 IST

Thiruvananthapuram: The government’s attempt to procure 1 lakh rapid antibody test kits from HLL Lifecare has hit a roadblock as the kits have failed quality tests. The Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited (KMSCL) had sent the kits for quality test at the state public health laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram.
The KMSCL had invited tenders for procuring the rapid testing kits and entered into an agreement with HLL Lifecare to procure 1 lakh kits at a rate of Rs 336 per kit.
“The first batch of the kits developed by HLL Lifecare was validated and approved by National Institute of Virology in Pune and the ICMR. Hence, it has to be verified whether the particular batch, which was tested at the state public health laboratory had failed,’’ said a KMSL official.
HLL Lifecare has urged the health department to conduct a second round of quality test at the virology institute at Alappuzha. Sources said more batches of the kits would be send to the institute for quality test.
If the kits fail the quality test again, KMSCL will have no option but to source them from S D Biosensor, a Korean company, which made the second best offer.
About 30 companies had taken part in the tender and 11 were shortlisted by KMSCL. The kits that failed the test were developed under the brand name MakeSure-Covid IgM/IgG Antibody Detection and was manufactured at HLL’s manufacturing facility in Manesar in Haryana.
The kits were supposed to take around 15-20 minutes to deliver a result. HLL is the first government company that received the approval from ICMR for manufacturing and supplying rapid antibody kits for Covid-19 detection.