Testing COVID-19 At Home: Mylabs, A Pune-based Biotechnology Firm Manufactures A 15-Minutes Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) KIT For Testing COVID-19 At Home

India is the land of many innovations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many Indian firms worked day and night to invent some marvelous inventions of tools that can help to curb the virus easily.

Starting with the production of a new vaccine- ‘Covaxin’ by the Bharat Biotech company, which kindled a new hope among the people in such unprecedented time of COVID. Then, a new device ‘CoronaOven’ was invented by a Bengaluru-based nanotechnology startup. Its name may sound a little strange to you, but its objectives are tremendous! CoronaOven is a device that uses UV-C light (wavelength 253.7 nm) and several other parameters to quickly disinfect any surface, be it be any home appliance or personal stuff.

The CoronaOven is available in 3 sizes- 20 litres, 33 litre, 40 litres, and 440 litres, depending upon the individuals’ use. Similarly, Dozee is a machine developed by Turtle Shell Technologies that aims to help achieve better health care by providing an accurate diagnosis. This machine can help with the initial diagnosis of various diseases that reduce the time spent making hospital visit decisions and many tests. It is a smart, non-communicative health care provider who can slip under their mattress.

DRDO, Defense Research, and Development Organization of India invented a new medicine, 2-DG for treating the COVID-19 patients fully. 2-deoxy-D-glucose or 2-DG is a potential drug that helps in the speedy recovery of COVID-19 patients as it increases their oxygen levels.

The drug was created in a collaboration with Dr. Reddy’s lab in Hyderabad. In April 2020, the experiments were launched to see the drug’s potential against curbing the virus. It was noted that 2-DG inhibited the growth of the virus and was effective against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It was later tested on the infected patients and found out to be effective in their treatment. Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan along with the Defense Minister of India, Rajnath Singh launched the first batch of the drug on May 17, 2021. 2-DG has ignited a new ray of hope among the Indian citizens as they can now be treated with a ‘first its kind’ medicine.

It will also reduce the oxygen dependence of the patients which will help to reduce the burden of hospitals and oxygen supplying companies as well. But there were a few odds too! Last year, Patanjali founder Baba Ramdev claimed that they created a new herbal medicine to cure the virus fully. The medicine was named ‘Coronil’ which created speculations in the whole country. But later it was found that the medicine did not ‘cure’ the virus, but is merely an immunity booster, which helps in prevention against the pernicious virus.

Glad tidings! Now you can test for COVID Within 15 minutes at your home!

Mylabs Discovery Solutions Pvt Ltd, an Indian biotechnology company, based in Pune has ignited a new ray of hope among the citizens! The Indian Council for Medical Research, ICMR, has given a green signal to a home-based rapid antigen test, RAT, for COVID-19 created by Mylabs. The ICMR has strongly suggested using the test kits for the patients who are showing COVID-19 symptoms. Now, even the asymptomatic patients, who were in contact with the infected patients but had uncertainty in their mind regarding the virus, can also conduct the test within the proximity of their homes.

“The RAT home test is only recommended for people with symptoms and immediate contact with certified laboratory cases. Impartial testing is not recommended,” said the provincial health research council. “All people with symptoms who do not have RAT say they do not have RAT should immediately get tested for RT-PCR. This is very important as RATs are likely to lose a few available cases with low viral load.

The RAT-negative symptomatic patients (which got negative results with the home test but showing the symptoms), should stay at their homes while following the COVID-19 protocols and wait for the RT-PCR test result, ICMR suggested. 

All about Mylab’s home-based rapid antigen test:

• The test requires only a nasal swab for its conduction.
• The test is produced by Mylabs, a Pune-based biotechnology firm, and is approved by ICMR.
• CoviSelfTM (PathoCatch) COVID-19 OTC Antigen LF Device, is the official name of the kit.
• The kit contains- a pre-filled extraction tube, a sterile nasal swab, one bio-hazard bag, and one test card.
• Mylab Coviself app must be downloaded by the person taking the test.
• The app will be available on both Playstore for Android users, and on Appstore for iOS users.
• The app will be containing a guide for testing and help in knowing whether the test is positive or negative.
• The price set for the test kit will be somewhere around Rs.250.
• The test will be conducted in 2 minutes, and the result will appear in 15 minutes. 
• The test will be available by next week in more than 7 lakh pharmacies across India, and various other online pharmacies.
• All users are advised to click on the test line image after completing the test process with the same phone used to download the mobile app and user registration.