Bengaluru, NFAPost: In a major boost to tackle Covid-19 in Karnataka, startups incubated and mentored at the Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre (BBC) and supported by the Department of IT, Bio-Technology and Science & Technology came up with six products which were imported till now.
Unveiling the products, Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwathnarayan said that it is a matter of pride for the state as the role of Kannadiga scientists, innovators and research professionals in developing the products locally is significant.
“Start-ups incubated and mentored at the Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre (BBC), to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, developed the 6 products. These products will reduce our burden of importing expensive equipment and tools in fighting this pandemic,” said Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwathnarayan.
Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwathnarayan also pointed out that the initiative of developing products locally is in line with our honourable Prime Minister’s Aatma Nirbhar Abhiyaan.
“We must take pride of the fact that we have reached this level of innovating and producing locally,” said Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwathnarayan, who is also the minister for IT, BT and Science & Technology.
All the 6 products have been approved by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for immediate use. The products will also be commercially available with immediate effect. The government will support and promote these products.
Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwathnarayan lauded the efforts of startups and scientists in developing the products in short turnaround time.
“These products are of superior quality and will contribute in tackling Covid-19 across the country. I congratulate all the startups and the innovators for bringing out these products in time,” he added.
Karnataka a Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T Additional Chief Secretary Ramana Reddy, IAS, Secretary to the DyCM P Pradeep and BBC Managing Director Dr Jitendra Kumar were present on the occasion.
The 6 products launched are:
Biofi:
Shieldex 24- a UV-ROS box for Covid-19 sterilisation developed by Ravi Kumar from Biofi; It is a device that can eliminate virus located on any object; ideal for applications in the transportation industry.
VNIR Biotechnologies:
Florescence probes and PCR mix for RTPCR detection developed by Dr Govindarajan and Dr Meher Prakash from VNIR Biotechnologies. The probes are part of the Covid-19 test kits; the probes are currently imported. Without the probe, virus detection is not possible.
Janitri Innovations:
Remote foetal monitoring device – Daksh developed by Dr Arun Agrawal. This is useful for Covid-19 positive pregnant women; the device helps remote monitoring of the foetus by connecting the gynaecologist/doctor. Viral Transport Media- DeConto helps in the combined collection and transport systems for viruses, incorporating a specially formulated liquid.
Denovo Biolabs:
Viral Transport Medium Kits developed by Manjunatha and Dinesh from Denovo Biolabs at The Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB) helps in safely transporting the live virus sample from the sample collection centre to the testing lab.
Aindra:
Cov-Astra an AI-based device for detection of developed by Adarsh Nararajan. A significant breakthrough that can detect Covid-19 virus through an x-ray; eliminates the conventional throat swab way of testing people. Cost per detection is significantly lesser at Rs 150 to Rs 250 per person.
Atrimed:
Anti-microbial face wash containing herbal antimicrobials developed by Dr Latha Damle and team from Atrimed. A herbal product that can kill any virus, including Covid-19 virus from any person’s face within seconds.