Centre looks into faster tests, vaccine approval | Economic Times

Government officials are discussing ways to accelerate the use of testing kits, including Feluda, in addition to RT-PCR in the wake of the rapidly deteriorating Covid-19 situation in the country. The government is also considering an alternative to bridging trials for newly approved imported vaccines, a senior official said.The Feluda test, which was developed indigenously by the New Delhi-based CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology and the Tata Group, is based on the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) technology and has a turnaround time of 45 minutes, which means isolation and medication of those who test positive can start immediately.“CRISPR test is doing very well internationally. The problem in India is the way the Indian Council of Medical Research has structured the testing, but if that needs to change, it will change,” the official told ET, while discussing the possibility of ramping-up the use of testing kits that can generate quicker results. 82207672RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) tests may not be the need of the hour because it detects viruses even when a person is not infectious and takes much longer, experts said.With over 300,000 cases added daily in the second wave of Covid-19 in India, pressure is mounting on the country’s health infrastructure. A majority of private labs in New Delhi suspended sample collections for RT-PCR and antigen testing for two days as they grappled to release results even within 48 hours against the stipulated 24 hours. Since ICMR has set RT-PCR as the gold standard test and its adoption has proliferated throughout the country, other tests haven’t received much traction.“What we need is for the ICMR to further validate and then the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories to accredit all existing RT-PCR labs for rapid and mass-scale adoption of alternative testing kits such as RT-LAMP (reverse transcription-loop-mediated isothermal amplification),” Ashok Rattan, advisor at Pathkind Labs, told ET.The Feluda test has shown 96% sensitivity and 98% specificity compared with ICMR’s current acceptance criteria for RT-PCR kits of at least 95% sensitivity and at least 99% specificity. ICMR has already approved the Feluda test, which is similar to a pregnancy strip test and changes colour if the virus is detected.Sensitivity is defined as the ability of a test to correctly identify individuals with the disease, while specificity is the ability of a clinical test to accurately identify those without the disease. Meanwhile, with the government allowing certain vaccines approved overseas to be imported for use in India, they still have to undergo simultaneous bridging trials, which take time.