US firm, IIT-M collaborate to bring rapid test to India

CHENNAI: Ricovr Healthcare Inc., a US-based rapid diagnostics platform company, and IIT-Madras have developed a point-of-care Covid-19 antigen test that can provide results in five minutes using saliva samples, said a statement on Thursday.

Point-of-care diagnostics, or near-patient testing, is a type of medical diagnostic test that enables accurate results within minutes. This project won the prestigious ‘Ignition Grants’ Award from the US India Science and Technology Endowment Fund (USISTEF), the statement said adding that the grant was won after a binational review process to address the Covid-19 challenge. USISTEF is a joint fund established by the US and India.

IIT-M is collaborating with Ricovr to bring this antigen test to the market soon. VV Raghavendra Sai, Department of Applied Mechanics, IIT Madras, said, “This technology is different from other molecular and antibody-based tests in that it can detect the presence of active viral particles on the spot without needing a specialised apparatus.”