India is in the middle of a deadly second wave of COVID-19, which is infecting more people with each passing day. As of Sunday, the total number of cases of COVID-19 infection in India stands at 17 million.
And once again, the Indian startup ecosystem is gearing up to fight the pandemic, armed with innovations.
L-R : Abhijit Pawar, Adar Poonawalla, Hasmukh Rawal, Sujit Jain, Shailendra Kawade
One such startup is Pune-based Mylab Discovery Solutions. Last year, the molecular diagnostics startup’s testing solution, Mylab PathoDetect COVID-19 Qualitative PCR kit, became the first to receive commercial approval from Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
As the numbers continue to increase due to the second wave, Mylabs has now introduced mobile testing labs across the country to address the increasing demand for coronavirus testing.
New innovations to battle COVID-19
Speaking with YourStory, Hasmukh Rawal, MD at Mylab Discovery Solutions, revealed that the startup spent months working to launch the mobile van solution to enable thousands of tests every day.
“We are deploying 50 ICMR-approved and NABL certified mobile vans that will act as COVID-19 testing labs. These vans can be parked anywhere and are powered by our Compact XL automating machine. Each van can conduct over 1,000 tests on a daily basis,” he adds.
Apart from this, he also revealed that the startup is currently working on a point-of-care testing solution that can be installed anywhere so that people can get themselves tested for COVID-19.
“Quality is an important factor for these innovations. So, we are working on the solution now and are looking to launch it in the next three to four months,” Hasmukh says.
While he did not disclose details, he revealed that the startup is working on four to five such projects to combat the second wave.
Scaling up existing innovations
After receiving the commercial approval for its Mylab PathoDetect COVID-19 Qualitative PCR kit in March 2020, the startup had partnered with Serum India CEO Adar Poonawalla and AP Globale Chairman Abhijit Pawar to scale up its production.
Image Credit: Mylabs
Hashmukh claimed that currently the production has been ramped up to conduct “six to seven lakh test per day as opposed to 10,000 in the beginning”.
Apart from this, Mylab also had also introduced the Pathocatch COVID-19 Antigen Rapid testing kit. It had also launched Compact XL, a machine to automate the manual processes of molecular diagnostic tests including COVID-19 RT-PCR tests.
Mylab was one of the first startups to take action to battle the pandemic with innovative tech solutions last year.
