Science & Technology
I-Lab: Mobile Testing Facility
- 19 Jun 2020
- 4 min read
Why in News
Recently, the government has launched the country’s first mobile I-Lab (Infectious disease diagnostic Lab) for last mile Covid-19 testing access.
- It has been created by a team from the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone Limited (AMTZ) under the National Biopharma Mission.
Key Points
- The Department of Biotechnology (DBT - Ministry of Science & Technology) under the Covid-Command strategy has supported building of mobile testing labs (I-Labs) through AMTZ.
- The Lab belongs to the BioSafety Level (BSL-II) category.
- BSLs are ranked from one to four and are categorised on the basis of the organisms that the researchers are dealing with. The organisms include viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, etc.
- BSL-I is considered to be the least hazardous, while BSL-IV poses the maximum safety risk. Each level builds on the previous category, adding more layers of constraints and barriers.
- It will be deployed in interior, iaccessible parts of the country and has the capability to perform 25 RT-PCR tests a day, 300 ELISA tests a day and additional tests for TB, HIV as per CGHS (Central Government Health Scheme) rates.
- RT-PCR and ELISA tests have been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for Covid-19.
- CGHS provides comprehensive medical care to central government employees and pensioners enrolled under the scheme. Rates of different procedures are decided under the Scheme.
Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone Limited
- Incorporated in 2016, it is Asia's first medical equipment manufacturing ecosystem, uniquely dedicated for Medtech and supported by various Ministries.
- It aims to put India on the global map of high-end medical equipment production and make healthcare products affordable and accessible not only in the country, but also the world at large.
- It also has set a target for reducing the cost of manufacturing up to 40% and also minimising the import dependency for the country, which is currently pegged at around 75%.
- The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) along with the AMTZ has initiated the DBT-AMTZ COMManD (Covid Medtech Manufacturing Development) Consortia to address the shortage of critical healthcare technologies in India and move progressively towards a stage of self-sufficiency.
National Biopharma Mission
- The National Biopharma Mission (NBM) is an industry-academia collaborative mission for accelerating biopharmaceutical development in the country.
- It was launched in 2017 at a total cost of Rs.1500 crore and is 50% co-funded by World Bank loan.
- It is being implemented by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).
- BIRAC is a Public Sector Enterprise, set up by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
- Under this Mission, the Government has launched Innovate in India (i3) programme to create an enabling ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing in the biopharma sector.
- It has a focus on following four verticals:
- Development: Development of product leads for Vaccines , Biosimilars and Medical Devices that are relevant to the public health need by focussing on managed partnerships.
- Upgrade: Upgradation of shared infrastructure facilities and establishing them as centres of product discovery/discovery validations and manufacturing.
- Capacity Building: Developing human capital by providing specific training.
- Industry-Academy Linkages: Developing technology transfer offices to help enhance industry academia inter-linkages.
