Cipla launches rapid antigen test for Covid-19 diagnosis
New Delhi: Cipla has announced its partnership with the Premier Medical Corporation Private Limited for commercialisation of the rapid antigen test kits for Covid-19 in India. The company will commence supply from this week. This is Cipla’s second launch in the diagnostics space after Elifast ELISA Test Kit. In this collaboration, Cipla will be responsible for the marketing and distribution of the Rapid Antigen Detection Test for the qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigen that will be manufactured by Premier Medical Corporation Private Limited.
The test is a rapid point-of-care nasopharyngeal swab test that directly detects the presence or absence of coronavirus antigen in the patient's body, generating results within 15-20 minutes. Only authorised labs are permitted by ICMR to conduct rapid antigen testing. The test will be marketed under the brand name ‘CIPtest’.
CIPtest is a reliable high-performing kit that has been validated and approved by ICMR. It is found to have specificity and sensitivity of 98.09 per cent and up to 75 per cent respectively.
Panama approves Pfizer, BioNTech vaccine
Panama City: Panama's government has approved the emergency use of the vaccine produced by US company Pfizer and German company BioNTech, the delivery of the first batch is expected in the first quarter of 2021, the country's Health Ministry said.
"The national government has approved the emergency use of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine," the ministry said in a statement on Twitter.
Panama expects to receive the first shipment of vaccines in the first quarter of next year and to begin immunising the population, starting with healthcare workers, the elderly, and security personnel.
