Pune-based molecular diagnostics company Mylab Discovery Solutions has joined hands with Kiran Mazumdar Shaw’s Syngene International, a global contract research organisation, to meet India’s rising demand for RT-PCR Covid-19 testing kits. This is an effort to reduce dependency on imports and increase the use of indigenous materials in the kit.
Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said the partnership would produce truly indigenous Covid-19 testing kits. This collaboration with Syngene will help Mylab secure a steady supply of indigenously made raw materials, meet the demand of RT-PCR based Covid-19 test kits in the country and reduce uncertainties.
Mylab had recently got funding from Serum Institute of India (SII) and Abhijit Pawar to scale up manufacturing operations.
SII CEO Adar Poonawalla said the partnership with Syngene International would reduce Mylab’s dependency on international raw materials and would further strengthen India’s self-reliance in fighting the pandemic.
Mylab Discovery Solutions MD Hasmukh Rawal said leaders of Indian biotechnology industry had come together and were leading by example. With their help, the country would not have to depend on other countries to test its citizens for the disease, he added.
Mylab was the first Indian company to get ICMR and CDSCO approval for its Covid-19 RT-PCR testing kits and has supplied them to ICMR-approved labs in more than 20 states. The firm has been scaling up its production, setting a target to deliver 7 lakh RT-PCR tests by May 3, 2020.