COVID-19 testing research: Syngene joins global consortium of 19 healthcare organisations

The consortium, led by Bristol Myers Squibb, will focus on a wide range of aspects from research to clinical diagnostic applications, the company said in a statement.

A diverse group of companies with synergistic areas of expertise, including precision medicine, diagnostics, occupational health, pharmaceuticals and clinical testing laboratories, the consortium will help provide clarity and potential solutions to COVID-19 testing challenges, it added.

To advance the common goal, the members can share relevant expertise, materials, and experiences to accelerate understanding of COVID-19.

Moreover, they can analyse available scientific and health data, materials and information to develop, improve and deploy current assays and new approaches for the COVID-19 testing paradigm, the company said.

Syngene COO Mahesh Bhalgat said, "Bristol Myers Squibb and Syngene have been research partners for fifteen years. We fully support the aims of the consortium and look forward to sharing our experience and expertise of the past six months, and are operating one of the largest RT-PCR testing private laboratories in Karnataka."

He added that the world of medical science is benefitting enormously by sharing information about this coronavirus and we welcome the opportunity to contribute.

Through the consortium, members may also contribute knowledge gained from the collaborative research by publishing work that will inform the scientific community and general public of the consortium''s findings, the statement added.

Syngene said since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, it has been actively contributing its scientific expertise and resources in the fight against the virus.

It has collaborated with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) to deliver a high throughput next generation sequencing (NGS)-based genomic screening assay that can test 5,000-10,000 samples simultaneously, the company said.

Besides, Syngene''s RT-PCR testing centre has conducted more than 50,000 tests and has tied up with over 50 organisations for testing their employees, the company added.