India’s drug authority last month approved a paper-strip test for Covid-19 that shows results in less than an hour, the head of the government institute that invented the test told CNN on Monday.
The test, called FELUDA—an acronym for FNCAS9 Editor-Limited Uniform Detection Assay—was named after a popular Indian fictional detective. It intends to “address the urgent need for accurate mass testing,” according to a statement from TATA Sons, which manufactured the test.
The kit could be manufactured for self-testing in the future, according to Agarwal, but the prototype being developed currently is only intended for testing in labs.
The FELUDA test follows a similar rapid test kit developed in the US this spring. Both tests use a gene-editing technology called CRISPR to detect the virus in a patient’s RNA. The US Food and Drug Administration approved the emergency use of the SHERLOCK test kit in May, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The test received approval for commercial launch by the Drugs Controller General of India, the country’s drug authority, on September 19. It had a 96% sensitivity and 98% specificity for detecting the novel coronavirus, meeting the Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) quality benchmark, according to a statement from the Ministry of Science and Technology. (CNN)
