A Mumbai-based startup is ready with its affordable Rapid Antigen Test that offers COVID-19 diagnosis & surveillance at the cost of Rs 100 per test.

The test developed by Patanjali Pharma will complement the gold standard RT-PCR & Rapid antigen tests and make it one of the most affordable ones available in the market.

The Centre for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health Crisis (CAWACH), an initiative by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), supported the startup in July, 2020 to develop Rapid Covid -9 diagnostics (both Rapid antibody and antigen tests for surveillance and early diagnosis of Covid- 19, respectively).

Dr. Vinay Saini, Director, Patanjali Pharma, incubated the Startup in SINE, IIT Bombay, and developed the R & D lab as well as products within 8-9 months. They applied for the required licenses and evaluated and validated the products at different Covid Centres for knowing and further improving their efficacy.

The startup plans to launch the rapid Covid-19 antigen tests in early June, 2021. The Rapid covid-19 tests (~10-15 minutes) would be helpful for early diagnosis of Covid-19 in rural areas, doctor’s clinics, and resource constraint areas where pathology and diagnostic labs are not available. The test is affordable and would be helpful to control the pandemic.