Syngene International soars 5% on Covid-19 test kit deal with HiMedia

NEW DELHI: Shares of Syngene International climbed over 5 per cent in Wednesday's trade after the company announced a deal with HiMedia Laboratories to produce and distribute ELISA test kits for Covid-19.

HiMedia will manufacture the kits at its facility in Mumbai and distribute it across India, Syngene International said in a BSE filing. The kit has the capacity to test samples together in a single run and generate results within 3 hours.

Following the development, the stock rose 5.14 per cent to hit a high of Rs 390 on BSE.

Syngene will initiate tech-transfer of the kits to HiMedia for developing the prototypes for submission to CDSCO for approval. HiMedia will launch the kits in two weeks after receiving the approval and market it under its brand name 'ELISafe 19'.

Syngene has indigenously developed an anti-COV-2 IgG ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) at its research facility in Bengaluru.

The test identifies the presence of SARS-COV-2 antibodies in blood samples and confirms if a patient has been exposed to the coronavirus, the company said.

"At a time when the number of COVID-19 cases is increasing at an alarming rate across the country, there is an urgent need to make available reliable testing kits using advanced technology to test patients and identify positive cases," Syngene International Chief Operating Officer Mahesh Bhalgat said in a statement.

To fill this gap, Syngene, with its expertise across diverse scientific domains, has developed an ELISA kit that allows higher throughput and generates faster results, he added.

The shares of the company closed flat at Rs 370.70 on BSE.