The first-of-its-kind non-invasive rapid antigen test kit will make COVID mass screening scalable, with a 99 per cent accuracy
LordsMed, the pharma division of Lord’s Mark Industries, has entered into an exclusive partnership with Singapore-based diagnostics kit manufacturer Sensing Self to bring the world’s first COVID-19 saliva-based rapid antigen test kit to India. With a reduced turn-around time, the first-of-its-kind non-invasive rapid antigen test kit will make COVID mass screening scalable, with a 99 per cent accuracy rate i.e., gold standard, affordable and accessible to facilitate the prevention of pandemic spread whenever there is a spike in the infection rate.
Sachidanand Upadhyay, Founder, Lord’s Mark Industries, “The innovative technology collaboration marks LordsMed foray into the fast-growing rapid antigen diagnostic kit segment. It has plans to venture into the OEM manufacturing space in the diagnostics sector with its advanced manufacturing facility at Vasai near Mumbai which will be operational soon. As a part of the agreement with Sensing Self, Lord’s Mark Industries will collaborate with various government agencies and authorities to offer the COVID-19 saliva-based rapid antigen kits to support large-scale mass screening for COVID at various passenger transit points like airports apart from offices and manufacturing units. The company will also tie up with primary health centres (PHCs) in various rural areas to strengthen the COVID-19 mass-screening facility in the hinterland of the country. Sensing Self specialises in manufacturing non-invasive diagnostics solutions and innovative medical devices for effective disease screening. It leverages artificial intelligence and biotechnology to develop solutions which are disposable, biodegradable and mobile-ready.”
Commenting on the partnership, Sachidanand Upadhyay, Founder, Lord’s Mark Industries, said, “The collaboration with Sensing Self is in line with our vision to make diagnostics and disease prevention services more accessible and affordable for the majority of the population. The world’s first saliva-based rapid antigen test kit of Sensing Self will act as a game-changer at the mass-level COVID-19 antigen screening in India by making it easy and convenient, cost-efficient and accessible. The idea behind the collaboration is to explore the technology collaborations to make COVID-19 antigen screening scalable and deployable to the remote parts of the country.”
Commenting on the association, Shripal Gandhi, Co-founder and CEO, Sensing Self, “Our unique COVID-19 saliva-based rapid antigen test kit makes COVID infection detection faster, thus facilitating effective curbing of pandemic spread. Blood-based rapid antigen test often causes unease in people due to their invasive nature. On the other hand, the convenience makes our non-invasive saliva-based rapid antigen test kit effective for point-of-care and mass testing. We are pleased to partner exclusively with Lord’s Mark Industries to launch our kit in India.”
