Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK) is all set to submit its newly-developed GR Covid-19 Dot Blot testing kit for final approval from the government on Saturday.
A handover ceremony will be held at Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital in Dhanmondi in the morning.
The kits will be handed over to representatives of the health ministry, Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA), Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) for sampling, Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury told Dhaka Tribune.
The kits will also be handed over to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States for testing, he added.
Developed by Gonoshasthaya-RNA Biotech Limited, researchers hope that the testing kit will get approval from the DGDA within a short time.
Earlier on Monday, Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury said the plan is to produce 100,000 kits per month once approved.
Gonoshasthaya-RNA Biotech had wanted to handover the kits to government and large medical institutions on April 11, but the attempt failed because of mechanical and electric disruptions.
On March 17, Gonoshasthaya Kendra declared that they had developed a cheap testing kit that can be used to detect Covid-19 in as little as 15 minutes.
A technical team of Gonoshasthaya-RNA Biotech Limited developed the testing kits at a cost of about Tk2 crore.
After two months of research, Prof Dr Bijon Kumar Sil, head of the department of microbiology at Gono Bishwabidyalay, and four of his associates -- Dr Nihad Adnan, Dr Md Raed Jamiruddin, Dr Firoze Ahmed, and Dr Muhibullah Khandaker -- invented the kit.
In late March, the team received approval from the government to import the raw materials for producing the testing kits.
Researchers say the testing kit can detect Covid-19 in 15 minutes and is expected to cost around Tk300-350 each.