DRDO develops Covid-19 antibody detection kit ‘DIPCOVAN’
About the DIPCOVAN:
Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) of India has developed a Covid-19 antibody detection kit named 'DIPCOVAN'. It has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research and has been developed by the Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences lab of DRDO in association with Delhi’s Vanguard Diagnostics Pvt Ltd.
In May 2021, it received the regulatory approval of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, for manufacture, sale and distribution.
Targeting 'SARS-CoV-2' Related Antigens:
'DIPCOVAN' is formed for the qualitative detection of IgG antibodies in human serum or plasma, targeting SARS-CoV-2 related antigens which offers a significantly quick turnaround of just 75 minutes to conduct the test with no cross-reactivity with other diseases.
Self Life Duration:
The kit features a time period of 18 months.
Result Time & Cost:
It can give the end in 75 minutes and can cost Rs 75.
High Sensitivity & specificity:
The DIPCOVAN kit can detect both spikes and nucleocapsid proteins of Coronavirus with a high sensitivity and specificity of 97% and 99% respectively.
Sample Size for its testing?
This kit was developed “indigenously by the scientists, followed by extensive validation on greater than 1,000 patient samples” at various Covid-designated hospitals in Delhi and was approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in the month of April,2021.
Commercial Launch of The Product:
Vanguard Diagnostics would commercially launch the product in June first week of 2021.
Who Unveiled the First Batch of It?
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had unveiled the primary batch of DRDO’s 2-DG drug on May 17.
Note:
Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO):
DRDO is that the R&D wing of Ministry of Defence, Govt of India, with a vision to empower India with cutting-edge defence technologies. DRDO's pursuit of self-reliance and successful indigenous development and production of strategic systems and platforms like Agni and Prithvi series of missiles; light combat aircraft, Tejas; multi-barrel launcher , Pinaka; air defense system , Akash; a good range of radars and EW systems; etc., have given quantum jump to India's military might, generating effective deterrence and providing crucial leverage.
DRDO was formed in 1958 from the amalgamation of the then already functioning Technical Development Establishment (TDEs) of the Indian Army and therefore the Directorate of Technical Development & Production (DTDP) with the Defence Science Organization (DSO).
The key measures to form DRDO effective in its functioning include the establishment of a Defence Technology Commission with the defence minister as its chairman. The programmes which were largely managed by DRDO have seen considerable success with many of the systems seeing rapid deployment also as yielding significant technological benefits. Today, DRDO may be a network of quite 50 laboratories which are deeply engaged in developing defence technologies covering various disciplines, like aeronautics, armaments, electronics, combat vehicles, engineering systems, instrumentation, missiles, advanced computing and simulation, special materials, naval systems, life sciences, training, information systems and agriculture. Several major projects for the event of missiles, armaments, light combat aircrafts, radars, EW systems etc. are available and significant achievements have already been made in several such technologies.
Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI):
Drugs Controller General of India is that the head of department of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization of the govt of India. it's liable for approval of licenses of specified categories of medicine like blood and blood products, IV fluids, vaccines, and sera in India. DCGI also sets standards for manufacturing, sales, import, and distribution of medicine in India & it comes under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO):
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization(CDSCO) under Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India is the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) of India. CDSCO is consistently thriving upon to bring out transparency, accountability and uniformity in its services so as to make sure safety, efficacy and quality of the medical product manufactured, imported and distributed in the country. Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, CDSCO is liable for approval of latest Drugs, Conduct of Clinical Trials, laying down the standards for Drugs, control over the standard of imported Drugs within the country and coordination of the activities of State Drug Control Organizations by providing expert advice with a view of cause the uniformity within the enforcement of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
Further CDSCO along side state regulators, is jointly liable for grant of licenses of certain specialized categories of critical Drugs like blood and blood products, I. V. Fluids, Vaccine and Sera.
SARS-CoV-2:
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may be a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. All structural features of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus particle occur in related coronaviruses in nature. Possible modes of transmission for SARS-CoV-2, including contact, droplet, airborne, fomite, fecal-oral, bloodborne, mother-to-child, and animal-to-human transmission. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 primarily causes respiratory disease starting from mild disease to severe disease and death, and a few people infected with the virus never develop symptoms.
On 11 February 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses adopted the official name "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2" (SARS-CoV-2).
Some studies have reported detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, in either plasma or serum, and therefore the virus can replicate in blood cells. Currently, there's no evidence for intrauterine transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from infected pregnant women to their fetuses. SARS-CoV-2 transmission appears to mainly be spread via droplets and shut contact with infected symptomatic cases.
Current evidence suggests that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurs primarily between people through direct, indirect, or close contact with infected people through infected secretions such as saliva and respiratory secretions, or through their respiratory droplets, which are expelled when an infected person coughs, sneezes, talks or sings.
Since SARS-CoV-2 has been within the human population only since December 2019, it remains unknown if the immunity is long-lasting in people that get over the disease. The presence of neutralizing antibodies in blood strongly correlates with protection from infection, but the extent of neutralizing antibody declines with time. Air transmission at distances greater than one or two metres seems unlikely in outdoor or indoor spaces, once they are well-ventilated and masks are used.