Apollo, TataMD partner to offer Covid-19 testing across India

TataMD Check, powered by Feluda, is the world’s first Covid-19 diagnostic test based on the DNA genome editing tool CRISPR Cas-9

Hyderabad: Apollo Hospitals Group and Tata Medical and Diagnostics (Tata MD), the new healthcare venture of the Tata group, has announced a collaboration to introduce TataMD Check, claimed to be the world’s first CRISPR Cas-9 based diagnostic test, to help increase testing for Covid-19 across the country.

Apollo Hospitals, along with its subsidiary, Apollo Diagnostics will offer the Tata MD Check testing in the National Capital Region from the first week of December 2020 and shortly thereafter, it will be rolled out across all major centres, namely Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Pune, followed by a second phase into other cities.

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TataMD Check, powered by Feluda, is the world’s first Covid-19 diagnostic test based on the DNA genome editing tool CRISPR Cas-9. The Feluda diagnostic technology platform has been developed by Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology (CSIR- IGIB).

TataMD Check has been approved by Indian Council of Medical Research and Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). It is a viral detection test with high accuracy and a quick result turnaround time. Apollo Hospitals Group is the first healthcare institution in the country to adopt the test.

During the next few weeks, Apollo Hospitals group will ensure the availability of TataMD Check testing in eight hospitals in phase 1 and the location-wise quantities will be ramped up based on the demand and need for expanding this to other centres. The primary care clinics and Diagnostics Lab and Collection centre network of Apollo Diagnostics in all these cities will also support the collection, home collection as well as testing to support this initiative.

Tata MD will help train the key diagnostic clinicians and staff at Apollo Hospitals and Apollo Diagnostics on new technology and effective testing protocols in the next few weeks. With its inherent advantages, TataMD Check is expected to help deliver quicker results and higher throughput of testing volumes as there are no minimum batch sizes limitations.

Commenting on this initiative, Dr Sangita Reddy, JMD, Apollo Hospitals (AHEL) and MD, Apollo Health and Lifestyle Limited (AHLL) said, “The addition of Tata MD check as part of the testing arsenal will be a boost to the ongoing efforts that the country has been waging against this pandemic.”

“Apollo Hospitals has also been at the forefront of the nation’s efforts to fight this global pandemic at multiple levels including advocating preventive efforts, aggressive testing and holistic care. We believe that the association with Apollo Hospitals will catalyse the rapid adoption of TataMD CHECK as the efficient and preferred testing option as we begin to resume our lives again,” added Girish Krishnamurthy, CEO & MD, Tata Medical and Diagnostics.

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