Omicron cases in India continued to surge on Sunday, December 20 and have now surpassed 166. Amid the scare of the new variant of concern, the Indian Council of Medical Research (IMCR) has designed a kit that will detect the B.1.1.529 variant in 2 hours.
The new technology has been developed at the ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, NE, Dibrugarh. ICMR has urged Expression of Interest from in vitro diagnostics (IVD) kif manufacturers for its development and commercialisation.
ICMR designs kit for detecting Omicron variant
The invitation sent to the Expression of Interest document read that ICMR, who is the owner of the concerned technology, is lawfully entitled to enter into any form of non-exclusive license agreements with selected manufacturers.
It further read that ICMR, New Delhi invited EOI via email from experienced IVD kit manufacturers for the undertaking of technology for the development and commercialisation of B.1.1.529 RT-PCR through a diagnostic kit.
Meanwhile, according to the Central government’s data, Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of Omicron cases at 54. The national-capital Delhi recorded the second-highest number of cases at 24. Kerala and Karnataka registered 15 and 19 cases respectively.