Point of care diagnostics needed as screening tool: Gagandeep Kang
The Department of Biotechnology is investing in developing diagnostic tools and vaccines for emerging diseases, Dr Gagandeep Kang, Director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, told CNBC-TV18.
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is investing in developing diagnostic tools and vaccines for emerging diseases, Dr Gagandeep Kang, Director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad told CNBC-TV18.
It is now looking at funding new approaches particularly from the point of care diagnostics that is needed as a screening tool. "This will give India the preparedness to test/screen lots of people simultaneously, something that does not exist today,” she said.
Kang is the first woman from India to be elected to the Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) and is also the Vice-Chair of the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). CEPI is a global collaboration between public, private, philanthropic, and civil society organisations to develop vaccines for infectious disease epidemics. The DBT is a founding member of CEPI, along with the Government of Norway, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the World Economic Forum.
CEPI is currently supporting funding for developmental work on four vaccine candidates. One is from Queensland University and the other three from biopharma companies CureVac, Inovio and Moderna.
As the Vice-Chair of CEPI, Kang says no vaccines will be ready this year to tackle COVID-19. However, these initiatives will change a lot in terms of our ability to kick-start programmes much earlier. “CEPI getting four vaccine programmes off the ground for a new virus in just a month of getting the virus genetic sequencing is a major move forward.”
“For new epidemics that are caused by unknown pathogens, we are not ready,” says Dr Gagandeep Kang, Director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad.
With just 12 laboratories across the country under guidance from the National Institute of Virology, Pune, equipped to test coronavirus samples, Kang says it is not enough for a country with a population of 1.3 billion people.
While some diagnostic tools have been rolled out by the government and thermal testing being done at airports and transit points, there is a lot in terms of therapeutics and prevention “where there’s opportunity to do more and we are not taking it.”
The DBT has outlined an investment of Rs 300 crore for the India chapter of CEPI which will be focusing on COVID-19. It has charted out a research strategy for diagnostic tool development and for vaccines against COVID-19. The department is also exploring the use of monoclonal antibodies in designing therapies and vaccines against COVID-19.
The coronavirus outbreak in China is threatening to become a pandemic with death tolls rising. In China, the death toll has crossed 2,700 as of February 24, with casualties rising in other countries too. Seven people have died in South Korea, seven more in Italy and 12 deaths have been reported in Iran.
As the virus spreads, there is a scramble across the globe to look for treatments and prevention methods. China has over 80 clinical trials currently ongoing to test a variety of therapies from anti-HIV drugs, stem cells and other treatments against COVID-19.
The major focus of the current Randomised Clinical Trials is to test repurposed anti-retrovirals and use that to be able to treat diseases. Kang says it is absolutely the right way to go as far as finding treatments for novel epidemics is concerned. “The biggest challenge in testing new technology or drugs is how do you access patients and test them with drugs in a rigorous fashion,” she added.
First Published: Feb 24, 2020 9:29 PM IST
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