Omicron Detection Kit: An Innovation Made-In-India by Tata MD

Tata Medical & Diagnostics Releases Omisure Omicron Detection Kit - Marking a Glorious Peak for Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Tata Medical and Diagnostics has developed an Omicron detecting RT-PCR Kit in partnership with ICMR. According to PTI, the Kit can detect the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV2 in nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal specimens during the RT-PCR tests.

The test run time of this Kit - named OMISURE - is 85 minutes, and it will produce test results in under 4 hours, which will include sample collection and RNA extraction.

The Kit has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and DCGI, and is compatible with all standard Real-Time PCR Machines.

The breakthrough by Tata Medical and Diagnostics and ICMR is expected to augment the world’s defence mechanism against Omicron, which has been classified as 'Variant of Concern' by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Omicron cases are currently on a sharp rise everywhere.

ICMR, in its approval letter dated 30 December. mentions that "The tests have been performed as per the manufacturer’s instructions. Responsibility for batch-to-batch consistency lies with the manufacturer.”

Ravi Vasanthapuram, the head of the research and development of TATA MD, told PTI, “This kit can detect the Omicron variant as well as other variants of SARS-CoV2 reported so far. Currently, Omicron patients are detected only after genome sequencing. But this test can help eliminate that step and detection can be done during the testing."