ICMR approves DBT institute as COVID-19 testing facility for Faridabad region

New Delhi: The bioassay laboratory of Department of Biotechnology’s Faridabad-based Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) will now function as an extension of diagnostic facility of ESIC Medical College and Hospital, Faridabad for COVID-19 testing. It will be the first and only COVID-19 testing facility in the Faridabad region.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two institutes also provides for the team at the bioassay laboratory to train manpower and build capacity at the ESI hospital for COVID-19 testing. While THSTI is funded by Department of Biotechnology in the Union Ministry of Science and Technology, ESIC Medical College and Hospital, Faridabad is a premier medical institution under the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment.

DBT- THSTI’s bioassay laboratory was established under the DBT-funded Translational Research Program of THSTI. It was set up for clinical development of vaccines and biologicals. It is intended to meet the global standards in Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP) and will be applying for accreditation by National Accreditation Board for testing and calibration Laboratories (NABL) for vaccine development and testing.

This MoU was signed following the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) decision to undertake an expansion process wherein it engaged government laboratories, which were not under ICMR, to also initiate testing facilities. This includes laboratories of DBT, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Defence Research and Development Organisation, and government funded medical colleges, among others.