As people in India were looking for a Covid-19 self-testing landscape, Abbott, a US-based pharmacy and diagnostic launched Panbio for Rs 325 per test. This is the second option that is available in India, after CoviSelf which was launched by Pune-based Mylab Discovery Solutions. The price of the first test kit was Rs 250 for one test.
Abbott imports this self-testing kit from its Korean plant and will be imported into the retail outlets soon. They will be available in pharmacies, organizations, institutions, and e-commerce platforms. The Vice President of Abbott India, Ambati Venu said that this option is more economical and so the access will be higher than the RT-PCR test. The distributor for the collaboration between Abbott and pharmaceutics divisions will be PanBio. He stated, “We will make the product available across half a million stores, which will not only cover semi-urban but also tier-2 and 3 cities where the access to RT-PCR was always a challenge.”
Also read: WHO asks for a halt on booster shots for Covid delta variant
“Abbott is the manufacturer of the only diagnostic to provide performance data on a rapid antigen test specific for use on children 15 years and younger, including infants,” said Abbott. They also claimed that the test is professional, has 97.6% specificity and 95.7% sensitivity.
“We are targeting three segments–home testing (self-testing); assisted testing in clinics, labs, etc; and third is ‘return to work’ segment. As corporates start opening up, airline travel picks up, educational institutions re-open, and hotels resume hosting clients, there is huge potential for such point of care Covid19 testing,” Venu said. They said that a few million kits but no number was provided.
This kit can be used in homes, markets, workspaces, laboratories as well as in professional testing. The vice president of the company’s diagnostics business in Asia stated that this test machine is really important in fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic; he also stated that the kit has 4 large pack sizes, one available at INR 325 at the retailer. As the choice of size increases, the price becomes 280 per test kit.
Also read: South Korea put on high as it reports first two cases of Delta plus variant
The test is easy to use and not too complicated the company claimed, “People can take the test by using a simple nasal swab (not the deep nasopharyngeal swab) while following the Instructions for Use steps on pack. For children younger than 14 years, an adult caretaker should help collect the nasal samples and conduct the test procedures. The kit contains all the materials required including nasal swabs, test devices, and reagent ampules. No additional instrumentation is required to conduct the test.” The result declares only after 15 minutes, and it comes along NAVICA mobile application.
To date from August, the company has shipped 300 million PanBio Covid-19 Antigen Rapid tests in more than 100 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas, for professional use.