India gives Roche Diagnostics the license to conduct coronavirus tests, looks to delay disease progression

Following the news that the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has given license to Roche Diagnostics India to conduct coronavirus tests;

Rohit Anand, Medical Devices Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak has squeezed the imports and countries across the world are rushing to secure additional stocks of test kits. Though India has lagged behind in testing the suspected Covid-19 cases, the country was quick to give Roche Diagnostic India the license to conduct coronavirus tests. India currently imports diagnostic test kits and reagents, and lack domestic manufacturing capabilities.

GlobalData’s research reveals that the Indian in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) market, which accounted for more than 21% of the Asia-Pacific IVD market in 2019, is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 2.5% through 2025.

With Covid-19 cases rising day by day in India, an urgent need for coronavirus diagnostic test kits has arisen. It is never easy to fulfill the demand for a specific test kit to diagnose such a large population and India so far has followed a restricted testing protocol. As a result, the supply of test kits is severely impacted as the demand has surged amid the outbreak.                       

Allowing private companies to use Covid-19 test kits is a smart move by India. In addition, allowing both private and government labs to test patients for Covid-19 was a much needed step at this stage. With India currently in Stage 2 of the outbreak, it is essential for the government to take all precautionary measures to delay the progression to the next stage.”