Abbott launches its own range of covid-19 home testing kits in India

• Image Credit: Internet

• Jul 12, 2021 | moderator

Covid-19 home test kits which were made available in India last month, now healthcare giant Abbott has launched its own range of home testing kits for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in adults and children which is priced at Rs. 325.

A Pune-based molecular company developed CoviShelf which was the first home test kit developed by MyLab Discovery Solutions, that received its approval from Indian Council Medical Research.

“The company will deliver millions of Panbio COVID-19 rapid antigen tests, available for self-use, to ease the burden on healthcare systems in urban and rural India”, Abbott said in a statement. “Scaling access to easy, accurate, and fast testing can speed up the country’s preparedness and curb community contagion,” ICMR former Director-General Nirmal Kumar Ganguly said.

In India, Abbott will offer self-tests for use at home, assisted professional testing at the point of care and laboratories, as well as workplace testing to help enable a sense of normalcy in returning to places of employment, the company said. “Rapid antigen testing is critical in the fight against COVID-19 and Abbott is delivering a variety of diagnostics options at a critical juncture in the pandemic,” Divisional vice president of Abbott’s rapid diagnostics business in the Asia Pacific, Sanjeev Johar said.

“By the end of July, we plan to deliver 7 million test kits in our first phase and have the capacity to bring millions of more test kits to support the country’s needs. With an extensive global supply network and manufacturing capabilities, Abbott will also be able to scale up manufacturing as needed to meet the testing needs of India,” Abbott said.

“The test kits will be made available Pan-India, reaching urban and rural regions of the country via both online and offline distribution channels. Our aim is to maximize availability and we aim to reach more than 80 percent of India’s population,” Abbott said.