German healthcare firm Siemens Healthineers AG received the Indian drug regulator’s approval to manufacture mpox detection kits in the country, a significant step to help screen and prevent the spread of the viral infection.
The company’s RT-PCR mpox testing kit will be able to detect both clade I and clade II variants of the virus, according to a statement on Tuesday. The tool will make results available within 40 minutes, “significantly faster” than traditional methods that can take as long as two hours.
Siemens Healthineers will make the test kits at its plant in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The output will be meant for use in India, with no immediate plans for exports.
Countries around the world have begun screening for mpox cases after an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo this month was declared as a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization.
Thailand detected a case of the clade Ib strain last week, becoming the first Asian country to report the pathogen as it spreads outside Africa.
Making test kits available early is a lesson from the Covid-19 pandemic, when many countries faced a shortage of diagnostic tools.
India has 32 labs equipped for testing mpox, and has teams screening travelers at international airports, the Health Ministry said in a statement on Aug. 18. The ministry sees low risk of a large outbreak with sustained transmission.
Serum Institute of India Pvt., the world’s largest vaccine maker, is “working on developing” a vaccine for mpox and is expecting some “positive news” within a year, it said in a statement on Aug. 21.
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