Low-cost portable ventilators, affordable COVID-19 test kits, drones for sanitization, specialized digital stethoscopes, disposable bamboo furniture for makeshift isolation wards and “infection-proof fabric” for hospitals — these are among several innovations, by IITs across the country during the lockdown period, which are ready to the hit the market to aid the fight against COVID-19.
The innovations have taken commercial route either through IIT-incubated startups or the premiere institutes have given license to companies keeping the patent rights with themselves.
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, which became the first academic institute to get a nod from the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for its COVID-19 test kit, has given non-exclusive open licence to Bengaluru-based biotechnology firm Genie Laboratories for commercialising the test, but with a price rider of Rs 500 per kit.
The kits are being manufactured at a facility at the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) in Vishakhapatnam, and are expected to be available in the market in the next 10 days.
Over 40 companies, including a few big names, have reached out to us to commercialise the test. We will be giving open licences to companies which meet the quality criterion set by us. We are also giving the licence with a price rider so that companies do not hike the price once commercialised. We have shortlisted Genie laboratories as the first one, but there will be more companies too,” IIT Delhi Director V Ramgopal told PTI.
According to the IIT Delhi team, the current testing methods available are “probe-based” while the one developed by the IIT team is a “probe-free” method, which reduces the testing cost without compromising on accuracy.
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