The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved a new Chennai-developed RT-PCR kit that can detect and differentiate the Omicron variant from other variants, including Delta, in just 45 minutes. Instead of waiting for genome sequencing analysis to know which type of variant one may be infected with, the KRIVIDA Novus RT-PCR kit detects SARS-CoV-2 using five different gene targets with a variant-specific S gene probe for Omicron. “KRIVIDA Novus is a one of its kind test that not only differentiates the variants but also detects the sub-lineages of Omicron,” the company’s CEO and Founder Anu Moturi said. Dr Naveen Kumar Venkatesan, principal inventor of the kit, chief scientist, founder and director, ImmuGenix Biosciences said in a press statement, “Currently, patients who test positive for Covid-19 have to undergo genome sequencing to know the variant they have been infected with.
ICMR approves new kit that detects Omicron variant in 45 mints
