Pune Woman Delivered India’s Coronavirus Testing Kit First, Then Her Baby

Pune, March 30, 2020: Meet virologist Minal Dakhave Bhosale, the Research & Development Chief of India’s Pune-based Mylab Discovery that created India’s first indigenous test kit in a record span of six weeks.

She was eight months pregnant and had just got discharged with a pregnancy related complication when she was tasked with creating India’s COVID19 test kit in February. She raced against time and submitted the test kit for evaluation at National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, on March 18, just a day before she underwent cesarean section & delivered her baby girl. “It was like giving birth to two babies,” Minal said.

A molecular diagnostics company, Mylab Discovery Solutions Pvt Ltd, has become the first Indian company to get commercial approval from both Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation and Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), to make Coronavirus testing kits.

Till date, India had to import COVID19 testing kits from Germany at Rs 4500 per kit but now it’s costing just Rs 1900 thanks to her and her team. Also there had been difficulties in procuring adequate number of Coronavirus testing kits but now with indigenous supply, that dearth of COVID19 testing kits is going to resolve soon.

At present the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has 100,000 test kits and it has further ordered two lakhs test kits from Germany. However, Mylabs says that it can make one lakhs kits in just a week and can deliver two lakhs kit also, if demanded.

The government’s Make in India initiative helped the company develop the test kit called Mylab PathoDetect COVID-19 Qualitative PCR in six weeks. This indigenous kit screens and detects infection within 2.5 hours as compared with over 7 hours taken by the current protocol.

Mylab Discovery Solutions MD Hasmukh Rawal said that the COVID-19 kit has been made as per WHO/CDC guidelines.

India has faced a lot of backlash for testing fewer people for the Coronavirus. By testing 15 people per million, it is testing the lowest number of people in the world. The number of Coronavirus positive patients has increased to 1024 in the country including 27 deaths as on March 29.

Initially ICMR tested only those people who had travel history and showed symptoms. Later, to expand testing, 12 more private labs were roped in to increase testing. However, these private labs lack approved testing kits that are necessary. Hence, the indigenous testing kit is of much significance.

COVID19

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new virus. The first case of the 2019–20 Coronavirus pandemic in India was reported on 30 January 2020, originating from China. As of 29 March 2020, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have confirmed a total of 1024 cases, 96 recoveries, 1 migration and 27 deaths in the country.

SYMPTOMS OF COVID19

The disease causes respiratory illness (like the flu) with symptoms such as a cough, fever, and in more severe cases, difficulty breathing. You can protect yourself by washing your hands frequently, avoiding touching your face, and avoiding close contact (1 meter or 3 feet) with people who are unwell.

HOW IT SPREADS

Coronavirus disease spreads primarily through contact with an infected person when they cough or sneeze. It also spreads when a person touches a surface or object that has the virus on it, then touches their eyes, nose, or mouth.