Syngene and HiMedia Labs join hands to develop COVID-19 test kits

Asia’s largest contract research and manufacturing organisation, Syngene International Limited, announced that it has collaborated with HiMedia Laboratories, one of the world leaders in microbiology, to manufacture and distribute ELISA test kits for COVID-19.

At its Bengaluru research facility, Syngene International has indigenously developed an anti-COV 2 Immunoglobulin G (IgG) Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA).

The above-mentioned test claims to be highly reliable and has an ability to identify the presence of SARS-COV-2 antibodies in blood samples. The company further said that it can test multiple samples in one go and deliver the result in just three hours.

Speaking on the collaboration, Dr Mahesh Bhalgat, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Syngene International said, “Syngene, with its expertise across diverse scientific domains, has developed an ELISA kit that allows higher throughput and generates faster results. We are happy to tie-up with HiMedia, which will make the kits available at a large scale to significantly increase serological testing in India.”

As a part of the collaboration, Syngene will initiate tech-transfer of the kits to HiMedia Laboratories for developing the prototypes for submission to Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for approval.

HiMedia Laboratories is expected to launch the kits in two weeks after receiving the approval and market it under its brand name ‘ELISafe 19’.

In the early morning trading session, the stock of Syngene International Ltd surged 5.14 per cent to hit 52-week high of Rs 390.00. At 1.35 pm, the stock was trading at Rs 372.65, up by 0.47 per cent against its previous close of Rs 370.90 on BSE.