Cadila, Biocon developing rapid antibody testing kits; Eris, Mylan, Gland importing. There are two kinds of testing for the novel coronavirus - the real-time polymerase chain reaction test kit that uses throat or nasal swabs and provides results in a few hours, and the other is antibody-based rapid testing kit that use blood samples and provides results in a few minutes.
The central drug regulator has issued show cause notices to these two importers and asked to stop the import of rapid test kits based on the observation by the apex health research body Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The ICMR on Monday asked states and union territories to stop using the test kits procured from the Chinese companies -- Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech and Zhuhai Livzon Diagnostics -- due to "wide variations" in their performance.
India procured around 5 lakh rapid antibody test kits from the two Chinese firms, Guongzhou Wondfo Biotech and Livzon Diagnostics, and they were distributed to several states reporting rising cases of the coronavirus infection.
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