Lucknow: As India looks to import testing kits from abroad, an alumnus of Aligarh Muslim University's Biochemistry department has developed a rapid testing kit for COVID-19 which will deliver results instantly. The kits are set to be priced at around Rs 500-600.
Dr Nadeem Rahman, who runs a company in Noida called NuLife Consultants and Distributors, has developed a completely indigenous kit which will be provided to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) as well. The kits will conduct tests through finger pricks to take blood samples and results will be available in under 15 minutes.
"These rapid kits are made through lateral flow technology and are simple to use and cost-effective. Our objective has been to develop kits which are cost-effective and give results in less time," Dr Rahman said.
The company has tried to keep the cost as low as Rs 500, keeping in mind the paying capacity of the people, Dr Rahman explained. This cost is likely to go down depending on mass-production and other factors. His company was confident of making around 1 lakh affordable rapid testing kits at the moment.
He thanked the UP government's Principal Secretary MSME Navneet Sehgal and his team as well as the ICMR for giving timely approval to the kits.
Vice Chancellor of AMU Professor Tariq Mansoor hailed Dr Rahman's achievement. The University's Public Relations Officer Omar Peerzada sais, “The AMU is proud at the fact that an alumnus has developed the much needed rapid testing kits at an affordable cost. AMU and its alumni are at the forefront of India's fight against coronavirus." The Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College of the University has already conducted 2500 free-of-costs tests, he added.
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