The Odisha State Medical Corporation has ordered five lakh test kits from TATA Medical and Diagnostics, making it the first state in the country to order the OmiSure RT-PCR test kits developed in partnership with ICMR for detection of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

As OmiSure specifically identifies Omicron without the need for sequencing, it will help the government to combat the Omicron spread within the state.

Girish Krishnamurthy, CEO and Managing Director, TATA Medical and Diagnostics said, “OmiSure is the only test that can specifically detect the Omicron variant at the point of testing. We would like to thank the Government of Odisha, the first state in the country that has decided to use TATA MD OmiSure for Covid testing and would provide all necessary support.”

OmiSure is the only test approved by the ICMR for RT-PCR detection of the Omicron variant. It targets 3 gene with a single tube, fully multiplexed assay in a unique design that identifies simultaneous S-gene Target Failure (SGTF) and S-Gene Mutation Amplification (SGMA). Its confirmatory evaluation of RdRP target with internal controls leads to accurate diagnosis with significant reduction in the risk of false-positive reactions from contamination in control materials. OmiSure uses the standard qPCR workflow, compatible with commonly used qPCR platforms with 4+ channels.

The test kit is compatible with all standard Real-Time PCR machines with a test run time of 85 minutes. The result turnaround time, including sample collection and RNA extraction, is 130 minutes

The kit evaluated in partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) reported 100% sensitivity and 99.25% specificity for SARS-CoV-2 variant detection, including Omicron. OmiSure is listed on the ICMR website as the only kit approved specifically for Omicron detection.

OmiSure has been validated with the help of ICMR-NIV as a commercial IVD test and demonstrated high performance in SARS-CoV-2 detection and Omicron identification (100% sensitivity and 99.25% specificity).