The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has designed a diagnostic kit for the detection of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and has invited Expression of Interest from in vitro diagnostics (IVD) kit manufacturers for undertaking transfer of technology for its development and commercialisation. The last date for submission is December 22^nd 2021.

Among the Pre-Qualification Criteria (PQC), the proponent should have prior experience in manufacturing of RealTime rRT-PCR diagnostic assays for any infectious disease and must have marketed such products in three) immediate preceding years. Pamphlet / brochures of the product/DCGI License for existing rRT-PCR product. The company has to be profitable and should not have incurred overall loss in the past three years and should have the capacity to produce at least one lakh Rrt-PCR test kits per day.

 "ICMR is the owner of the said technology, including any underlying intellectual property(ies) and commercialisation rights. ICMR is lawfully entitled to enter into any form of non-exclusive license agreements with selected manufacturer/manufacturers, including transfer of technology through suitable agreement to any other interested manufacturers," the invitation of Expression of Interest document said.