Equine Biotech, a startup incubated at IISc, has developed an indigenous diagnostic kit called “Global diagnostic kit” for accurate and affordable diagnosis of COVID-19.

The test kit, based on Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), the gold standard for COVID-19 diagnosis, has been approved for use in authorised COVID-19 diagnostic labs by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The test takes about 1.5 hours to confirm the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in patient samples. It is also easy to use and has 100% specificity, according to the founders. The company is currently seeking to licence its new COVID-19 test kit and work with med-tech companies and other industries for mass producing, marketing and distribution of these kits.

Equine Biotech has 30 years of experience working on infectious diseases, including zoonotic diseases. The company is founded on the concept of ‘One Health’, which encompasses human as well as animal health and wellness. It has previously developed diagnostic tests for screening livestock, especially cattle and horses, for blood parasitic diseases such as trypanosomiasis, trichomoniasis, theileriosis and babesiosis.