Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) is soon going to present the performance trial results of the coronavirus antibody testing kit developed by Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK).
“We have already conducted the performance trial, and we have also almost completed processing the data and preparing the final report,” said BSMMU Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof Kanak Kanti Barua on Sunday, reports UNB.
He said Prof Shahina Tabassum, head of the committee formed to conduct the performance study of the Covid-19 rapid testing kit developed by GK, informed him that they will submit the report to the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) within a day or two.
However, he said they are not going to make any report on GK’s Covid-19 testing antigen kit as the organization withdrew it on June 2.
Asked whether they will conduct the performance trial of antigen kit if the organization resubmits samples with modification, the VC said they are unlikely to do that.
“They [GK] submitted the kit on May 20 and withdrew it on June 2. We will not wait for an unlimited time,” he stated.
According to GK, its antibody kit will help identify whether people have been infected with coronavirus in the past, and the presence of antibodies or resistance power in their bodies.
Moreover, it will help collect plasma of those who have recovered.
In a press release on June 2, GK requested the BSMMU authorities to suspend the performance study of its coronavirus-testing antigen kit due to the detection of some inconsistencies in sample collection procedure.
GK said it is upgrading the sample collection process.
On March 17, GK announced that they developed a testing kit that can examine samples to detect Covid-19 within 15 minutes, but the kit was still not approved by the authorities concerned.
On April 30, the DGDA permitted GK to get its kits tested. The DGDA informed GK that the performance study of the kits could be done either at BSMMU or IEDCR.
On May 2, BSMMU authorities formed a six-member committee, headed by Virology Department’s former chairman Prof Shahina Tabassum, to conduct the performance study of the testing kits as the organization approached the country’s premier medical university.