What is the news : A Bangalore-based start-up has developed a novel, point-of-care Electrochemical ELISA test that enables fast and accurate estimation of total antibody concentration of COVID 19 in clinical samples.

Name of start-up : PathShodh Healthcare

Details :

• The start-up is incubated by IISC
• This novel technology and product was supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, under its initiative on Centre for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health Crisis (CAWACH).
• The effort was coordinated through SINE at IIT Bombay and IKP Knowledge Park, Hyderabad.
• The novelty of the technology is based on the measurement of electrochemical redox activity of IgM and IgG antibodies specific to SARS-CoV-2 Spike Glycoprotein (S1). The S1 protein hosts the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD), which latches to the ACE2 receptors on the cells before infection. Hence the antibody tests targeting S1 spike protein are more representative of an immune response against infection compared to other antibody tests targeting Nucleocapcid (N) protein.
• PathShodh’s technique is also a major departure from the qualitative rapid antibody tests in the market, which are primarily based on lateral flow ELISA technique. The technology has been protected through US and Indian patent applications.