Govt Approves Omicron Test Kit Made In India By Tata Group: But Is It Home-Testing Kit? Here’s The Answer..

As per recent reports coming in, a new testing kit has been developed in India by Tata Medical and Diagnostics (Tata MD). It will help identify the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in the samples taken from the nose and throat.

This kit has also been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and can be used commercially from January 12!

Read on to find out all the details!

OmiSure Kit Developed By Tata MD To Detect Omicron Variant

The kit developed by Tata MD is named OmiSure and can identify the B.1.1.529 (Omicron) variant along with any other circulating SARS-CoV-2 variant.

As per the company, “It can help cut half the cost and complexity of first-line Covid-19 testing and Omicron screening. Most states have adopted a dual-testing strategy at the point of first-line testing, where samples are first tested with cost-effective regular Covid-19 RT-PCR tests and then, positive samples are screened for Omicron with a more expensive SGTF assay and prioritised for sequencing.”

This kit has been developed by a team headed by Bengaluru-based Dr V Ravi, former head of neurovirology, NIMHANS, and currently head of R&D, Tata MD. currently, it is the only kit approved specifically for detecting the Omicron variant.

However, Ravi has stated that it is not a home testing kit; it detects viral genetic material and not viral antigen. It is also not a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT). It reportedly requires special equipment, trained people and a certain amount of bio-safety.

It is a real time PCR, and therefore cant be used by the public at home, Ravi classified.

OmiSure: All You Need To Know!

The test has been designed and developed by the scientists at Tata MD. It is a single tube, fully multiplexed test (provisional patent application filed). It comes with two checks in place for Omicron detection and it is also capable of detecting other SARS-CoV-2 variants.

The kit has reported 100 per cent sensitivity and 99.25 per cent specificity for detection of variants of SARS-CoV-2, including Omicron.

As per reports, it is the first test that will employ a combination of two S-gene viral targets to identify Omicron. The first target has been based on S-gene dropout or S-gene target failure (SGTF) and the second target on S-gene mutation amplification (SGMA).

The company has ramped up the production capability, supply chain, and raw material inventory and assures to deliver two lakh OmiSure tests per day.