Karnataka startups launch six indigenous products to tackle COVID-19

Speaking at the official launch of these products, Ashwath Narayan, who holds the portfolio of IT-BT, Science and Technology and Higher Education, said it was a matter of pride for the state as the role of Kannadigas was significant in developing the products.

“These products will reduce our burden of importing expensive equipment and tools in fighting this pandemic. We must take pride in the fact that we have reached this level of innovating and producing locally,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.

All the six products have been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for immediate use.

The products will also be commercially available with immediate effect: The Shieldex 24, Fluorescent probes and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) mix for Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RTPCR) detection, Remote foetal monitoring device called Daksh, Viral Transport Medium, Cov-Astra an AI- based device for detection of COVID-19 through an X-Ray and anti-microbial face wash containing herbal antimicrobials.

According to the Department of IT-BT and Science and Technology, Shieldex 24, developed by Ravi Kumar from Biofi, can eliminate viruses located on any object. Florescence Probes by Dr Govindarajan and Dr Meher Prakash from VNIR, are part of the COVID-19 test kits.
Daksh, developed by Dr Arun Agrawal from Janitri, is useful for COVID-19 positive pregnant women as it helps remote monitoring of the foetus.
Viral Transport Medium, developed by Manjunatha and Dinesh from Deno Bio labs at IBAB, helps in safely transporting the live virus sample from the sample collection centre to the testing lab.
Cov-Astra, an AI-based device for detection of coronavirus, is developed by Adarsh Nararajan from Aindra. It is considered as a significant breakthrough that can detect COVID-19 virus through an x-ray and eliminates the conventional throat swab method of testing people. Per detection cost is significantly lesser at Rs 150 to Rs 250 per person.
The anti-microbial face wash containing herbal antimicrobials, developed by Dr Latha Damle and team from Atrimed, can kill any virus, including COVID-19, from any person’s face within seconds, the department said.