India and Israel collaborate on rapid COVID-19 test

Assuming that the trial successful, both countries would produce the rapid test in India and co-market the product to the world under a monetization scheme.

By CODY LEVINE, JERUSALEM POST STAFF
An Indian and Israeli scientist standing together at the testing site in India. (photo credit: NATI KELLER - SHEBA MEDICAL CENTER)
An Indian and Israeli scientist standing together at the testing site in India.
(photo credit: NATI KELLER - SHEBA MEDICAL CENTER)
The Indian and Israeli governments are jointly working on a coronavirus clinical trial utilizing patients in India and Israeli technology in order to develop a rapid testing system that could detect the virus in under 30 seconds, accoridng to a report from the scientific news website Trialsite on Monday.
Assuming that the trial successful, both countries would produce the rapid test in India and co-market the product to the world under a monetization scheme. The project was developed via coordination between the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), a branch of the Indian Ministry of Defense , and the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DRDD) from Israel's Defense Ministry. 
 
The trials will determine those infected with coronavirus via tests such as audio, breath, thermal and polyomino to isolate proteins associated with COVID-19. Following the arrival of a 35-member team of Israeli scientists in India, the process for engaging in human trials was quickly expedited by the DRDO, in which they even waived the seven-day quarantine team f. Nevetheless, the commencement of testing will only begin after receiving the endorsement of a full committee at the DRDO, which is reported to occur at some point in August. 
Using four different Israeli technologies that may be able to detect coronavirus rapidly, samples taken from the Indian patients, which will be transferred back to Israel, is still currently waiting approval for use in Israeli labs. 
 
"The people of India have greeted us with great enthusiasm. At the moment, we are still doing massive testing at 5 different sites, gathering data on patients using cutting-edge technologies. It will still take awhile to analyze all the data," said Dr.Nati Keller, Sheba Medical Center's senior clinical microbiologist who was part of the delegation. 
The study focuses on samples taken from 5,000 Indian patients, and includes an active coronavirus sample, with this test serving as a “research validation” study that may allow for mass production of rapid tests in the near future.