The Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK) is all set to submit its newly-developed “GR Covid-19 Dot Blot” coronavirus testing kit for the final approval from the government.
A handover ceremony will be held at the Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital at Dhaka’s Dhanmondi in this regard on Saturday, said a press release on Thursday.
Developed by Gonoshasthaya-RNA Biotech Limited, researchers hope that the testing kit will find its approval from the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) within a short time.
Earlier on Monday, Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury told the Dhaka Tribune that a plan has been taken to produce 100,000 kits per month once approved.
DGDA, Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Combined Military Hospital (CMH), World Health Organization (WHO), and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) will also receive the kits for sampling, he continued.
Gonoshasthaya-RNA Biotech earlier 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 examine samples to detect Covid-19 in as little as 15 minutes.
A technical team of Gonoshasthaya-RNA Biotech Limited developed the testing kits and it cost about Tk2 crore.
After a two-month research, Prof Dr Bijon Kumar Sil, head of the Department of Microbiology at Gono Bishwabidyalay, and his four associates -- Dr Nihad Adnan, Dr Md Raed Jamiruddin, Dr Firoze Ahmed, and Dr Muhibullah Khandaker -- invented the kit.
The team received a green signal from the government in late March to import the raw materials for producing the testing kits.
Researchers say the testing kit can detect coronavirus infection in 15 minutes and is expected to cost around Tk300-350 each.
