The National University of Science and Technology (NUST) has received long-awaited approval from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) after successful laboratory testing with coronavirus test kit N-CovKit, Federal Minister of Science and Technology, Fawad chaudary.
The steady increase in the number of positive cases of coronavirus positive combined with declining medical resources has driven the development of domestic test kits to help Pakistan fight the pandemic.
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The minister for Science and Technology Ch Fawad Hussain congratulated the scientists and said the test kits developed by NUST "will lead to a significant cost reduction for COVID testing in the country" and "will save huge import costs." The kits developed by the locals would soon be available at a lower price than imported kits, according to the official statement.
Another landmark achieved.... DRAP has approved Pakistan first COVID testing kit, Congratulations to @Official_NUST and our brilliant scientists ...you people have made us proud ... this ll bring significant cost reduction of COVID tests also ll save huge import bill
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) June 12, 2020
The young scientists behind this achievement are associate professor Dr. Aneela Javed and associate professor Dr. Ali Zohaib of the NUST Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Life Sciences (ASAB). The two have been working on the diagnosis kit since the pandemic and announced development in mid-March.
It is a great achievement for Pakistani scientists and scientists. Once the diagnostic test has been approved by DRAP, we hope it will come to market soon," said Dr. Aneela in an interview with Gulf News Procedures and tests required by several companies and health regulators delays immediate availability and the sets go into mass production by a leading pharmaceutical company once DRAP is awarded the commercial production contract.
Initially, the NUST team worked on research with the Wuhan Institute of Virology China, DZIF Germany, Columbia University USA and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) Rawalpindi. The researchers appreciated the support from the National Institute of Health (NIH) during the trial.
According to ASAB director Dr. Hussnain Janjua, the test kits developed at NUST, have released the potential of local universities to contribute to national development. However, government grants and support from foundations are required to conduct research into meaningful effects.
Local kits to increase testing capacity
The locally developed test kits would significantly increase test capacity, which would be crucial for the detection of infected people containing the virus.
Pakistan now has the capacity to run 1.2 million tests per month, Prime Minister Imran Khan said a day earlier. He also said the country's ventilators capacity has increased from 2,800 to 4,800, while 1,400 were ordered as the health system struggled with the pandemic.
