IIT Guwahati develops high quality and affordable Sterile “SPILD” VTM kits, RT-PCR kits and RNA isolation kits

Guwahati 17th June 2020: The Minister of Finance, Health and Family Welfare, Assam Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma, today launched the Viral Transport Media (VTM) Kits in presence of Shri Samir Kumar Sinha, Principal Secretary (IAS),  Prof. Siddhartha Sankar Ghosh and Prof. Parameswar Krishnan Iyer, professors from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG), Dr Achyut Chandra Baishya (Principal cum Chief Superintendent) GMCH, Dr Ajanta Sharma (MD) GMCH, Dr Lahari Saikia (HoD), GMCH, Dr Pankaj Choudhary, Technical Manager, RR Animal Health Care Ltd. and other officials.

The ‘Made in Assam/India’ kits will spur affordable and high-quality healthcare products development in Assam and provide access to world-class kits and product development as well as career opportunities to healthcare professionals and students and an important step in PM’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’

These affordable and sterile Viral Transport Media (VTM) kits, RT-PCR kits and RNA isolation kits have been developed at IIT Guwahati jointly with RR Animal Healthcare Ltd. with inputs from GMCH. Due to the huge demand for these kits and the high price associated with their timely procurement, the National Health Mission (NHM), Assam had approached IIT Guwahati for their development and procurement. The requested kits were already under development stage and on knowing the immediate requirement of these kits in high quantity, the research teams led by Prof. Parameswar Krishnan Iyer, Prof. Siddhartha Sankar Ghosh from IIT Guwahati and Dr Labanyamoy Kole of RR Animal developed these kits as per the standards laid down by the GMCH and have already delivered them ~950 VTM kits, which have now been tested and validated.

Speaking about this at the launch of these kits, the Hon’ble Minister Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma, said, “Assam has been successfully leading the fight against COVID-19 pandemic and our initiatives have gone a long way in containing this disease in the entire NE region. We want to identify and contain this disease at an early stage and we must have all the crucial kits and materials so that our frontline healthcare workers and doctors who are doing a commendable job do not face any hurdles. We are very happy with this product development and launch of the VTM and other COVID-19 related kits in IIT Guwahati, Assam and I congratulate The Director, IIT Guwahati and the faculty members for this development as well as acknowledge other help being provided to us.“

The viral transport media or VTM kits are the first stop source used to collect the nasal and oral swab specimens from the individual source to the laboratory safely for culture and testing. During this period the virus, if present, in the sample specimens should remain intact until the testing procedure is completed. The “SPILD” VTM kits developed at IIT Guwahati, consists of a comprehensive solution specially formulated for the collection and transport of SARS-CoV-2. These kits comprise of a CDC recommended and validated transport medium and one each Nasopharyngeal and Oropharyngeal specimen collection swabs. The complete package is suitable for the collection, transport, maintenance, and long-term freezer storage of viral specimens. The unique formulation of the transport medium helps in preserving the viability of viruses for up to 72 hours (at refrigerated temperatures). The swabs have been designed ergonomically with a pre-moulded breakpoint on their shaft for enabling secure sampling. These sterile “SPILD” VTM kits comply with the CDC recommended configurations for viral specimen collection for COVID-19 and are packed in user-friendly individual packs.

Speaking about this timely and remarkable development, Prof. T. G. Sitharam, Director, IIT Guwahati, said, “IIT Guwahati is thankful to Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma for launching these VTM kits, specially developed by IITG on request from the state government. He further added that IITG has been in the forefront in this fight against COVID-19 and has been supporting the Assam state government in this time of the pandemic. On receiving the request from Director, NHM to provide these VTM kits, the institute immediately acted upon this request and began production of these sterile and affordable VTM kits and the first batch have already been delivered to GMCH. IITG is leaving no stone unturned in making the country self-reliance (Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan) as mentioned by the Hon’ble Prime Minister and is fostering relations with the industry in healthcare products manufacturing in Assam”.

In addition to the sterile “SPILD” VTM kits the Institute has also developed “SPILD” RNA isolation kits and “SPILD” RT-PCR kits jointly with RR Animal Healthcare Ltd. which are imperative to safely isolate the RNA from COVID-19 virus. The purified RNA is then converted to DNA by an enzyme Reverse Transcriptase, which are utilized to confirm the presence or absence of COVID-19. The large scale production of all these kits has commenced to meet the requirement of the Assam State as well as will be made available across the country.

The entire logistics to meet the deadline set by the state government has been strictly adhered to which has led to the timely development and production of these sterile kits. An important initiative of the entire programme has been the involvement of industry right from the conception stage and assuring that the production of these kits will bring high quality and affordable healthcare product development in Assam.

Talking about the development of these kits, Prof. Parameswar Krishnan Iyer, Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Center for Nanotechnology, said, “This collaboration of academia with industry and the timely development of these high-quality sterile kits as requested by the state government will immensely help in conducting large scale testing and identification of COVID-19 cases and prevent the spread of this pandemic”.

Prof. Siddhartha Sankar Ghosh, Professor, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering and Center for Nanotechnology, added, “The entire kit development, the quality of which is comparable to the best in the world, to scaling up was very exciting since the demand from GMCH and NHM, Assam was immediate and with industry joining IITG, we could deliver the necessary ‘SPILD’ VTM kits successfully.”

Speaking about this unique initiative, Dr Debashis Dutta, Director, RR Animal Healthcare Ltd., stated, “We are very delighted to jointly work with IIT Guwahati and the Assam State government for the development of these COVID-19 diagnostic kits which has allowed us to serve the society, especially in the north-east region of India at this time of the pandemic. We look forward to providing an affordable and high quality one health solution to the Region and the entire Nation”.

Dr Labanyamoy Kole, Head, Research and Development, RR Animal Healthcare Ltd, also added, “This process of COVID-19 related kit development with IIT Guwahati has been a very good prospect to serve people promptly and deliver important healthcare products”.

RR Animal Health Care Limited (MSME) is a Research-Oriented Indian MNC, now based at Research Park, IIT Guwahati with a major focus in Animal and Human Health care specialities, with a belief that the ongoing concept of 75% of the emerging diseases in humans may have been originated from animals and it is time for the Veterinary Health scientists to work coherently for improving human health and to contribute as an integrated effort towards “Human-Animals Plants” in ‘One Planet-One Health and we are One’.

The large scale production of all these COVID-19 diagnostic kits has commenced and would be delivered to the Assam state officials as well as other testing centres across the country as and when the demand arises. This is also likely to create lots of employment opportunities in research and development, sales and marketing and spur development of other related healthcare products.

Assam girl commits suicide after making Tiktok video

Guwahati, June 16: A young girl from Assam’s Nalbari district on Tuesday allegedly commits suicide after making a Tiktok video to inform her parent about the incident.

According to the reports, the shocking incident took place at Borkura railway gate in Nalbari district where the young girl committed suicide by jumping before a running train.

Before the incident, the girl had made a Tiktok video at the railway track where she addressed her parent and said in the video that, she is going to take the ultimate decision.

“I loved him so much. Whom I loved so much, he left. I am now waiting for the train. Bye all friends, love you all. I don’t want to die. My heart is vibrating, but I have no other option. Love you Maa (mother), love you Deuta (father), please live well, take good care of my brother,” the young girl said in her Tiktok video which was made just before the incident.

According to the reports, a young boy whom the young girl loved had also committed suicide a day before.

Following the incident, locals rushed to the spot and informed police also.

Later, police had reached the area and recovered the body of the girl.

A police officer said that the driver of the train had seen the girl in front of the train while the train was running on speed.

“We rushed to the spot after receiving the information. We have recovered the body from the railway track,” the police officer said.

Assam to conduct 50,000 random tests for COVID-19 to check community transmission

Guwahati, June 16: Given surge the numbers of COVID-19 positive cases as it continues unabated in the state, the Assam government has decided to launch Assam Targeted Surveillance Program (ATSP) from June 17 by aiming to conduct 50,000 random tests for the deadly virus in a week.

The programme is aiming to check community transmission of the novel Coronavirus and it will target the vulnerable areas of the state including Guwahati.

Under the programme, the state Health Department will collect samples of people working in the locations such as truck parking places, loading and unloading centres, godown areas, weighbridges, dhabas etc.

The state Health Department will also collect samples of the staff of hotels used as institutional quarantine and frontline workers including police personnel will be tested for the new virus.

In Guwahati, the state Health Department has opened 12 sample collection centres at different locations.

Fears the outbreak rise among the people after at least 25 COVID-19 positive cases are detected alone in Guwahati recently which have no travel history.

Assam Health Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the present situation in Guwahati is not so good because of the COVID-19 cases.

“At least 25 COVID-19 positive cases have detected in Guwahati which has no travel history. We want to test at least 50,000 samples in next 15 days,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

According to the Assam government data, the state has so far reported 4309 positive cases for COVID-19 and out of these, 552 cases have been detected alone in Kamrup (Metro) district.

The Kamrup (Metro) district administration has so far declared 109 different locations in Guwahati city as containment zone and now there are 80 active containment zones in the city.

The Assam Health minister recently said in a press conference that, the government will have no other option to declare lockdown again in Guwahati if more positive cases will detect in the random tests.

35-year-old Payal Sen – a housewife in Guwahati said that, the government should declare lockdown again to control the worst situation.

“We should have to follow the social distancing norms and it is needed for our safety. I think the government should declare lockdown again for another one month,” Payal Sen said.

Now, it has become a big challenge for the Assam government that how the government will deal with it and control the situation.

Assam woman returning from Kerala gives birth to baby girl on Shramik special train

Guwahati, June 15: A woman from Assam’s Goalghat district delivered a baby girl while was returning to the state in a Shramik Special train from Kerala on Monday.

According to the railway authority, the lady named Nilima Joy hailing from Sarupani village under Merapani police station in Golaghat district has started to develop intense labour pain while the train reached at Barpeta Road railway station in Assam’s Barpeta district.

She was travelling in the train alone from Kerala.

The lady delivered a baby girl inside the train compartment with the help of some other women.

Following it, the railway station authority immediately dialled concerned Childline authority and rushed her Barpeta Road First Referral Unit (FRU) hospital.

Barpeta district Deputy Commissioner Munindra Sharma said over telephone that, both mother and the child are now stable.

The infant was named Quarantina by her mother.

“Both mother and the baby girl are now at the hospital and the doctors are monitoring them,” the Barpeta district Deputy Commissioner said.

According to the reports, the lady and her husband worked in a factory in Kerala and her husband had come home for some work before lockdown and she was staying alone in Kerala.