Bengaluru, India (CU)_ According to reports, the government of India has licensed five private laboratories to conduct whole genome sequencing of Sars-CoV-2 samples, which is the method that detects the variant. Among the approved laboratories, three of the facilities are located in Bengaluru, while the remaining two are located in Delhi and Ahmedabad. These laboratories will now be affiliated with the Indian Sars-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (Insacog).
The official statement released by the department of biotechnology, which operates under the Union science ministry, read the following: “…the competent authority of the department of biotechnology has approved the inclusion of the following private genome sequencing laboratories in the Indian Sars-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium..”.
The following laboratories have been chosen for genome sequencing. Strand Life Sciences, Genotypic Technologies Pvt Ltd, and Eurofins Genomics India from Bengaluru; CARINGdx from Delhi; and Neuberg Supratech Reference Labs Pvt Ltd from Ahmedabad. According to primary information, the government will give samples. Experts have advised to incorporate private laboratories into the genome surveillance process in order to enhance epidemiological vigilance.
Dr Harsh Mahajan, founder of CARINGdx, which is a division of Mahajan Imaging, expressed delight over the selection of his lab. He said, “The work has not started yet as we have just been informed by the government about our lab having been included for genome sequencing. The next step is going to be to have a dialogue with the authorities concerned on how to go about the process as there are certain conditions that the labs are meant to follow”.
A senior central government official familiar with the subject said, “Involvement of the private sector was considered as one of the options for some time for the purpose of genome sequencing as there are some laboratories in the private sector that are adequately equipped to do so. However, there are certain conditions that have been underlined for the labs that they need to fulfill mandatorily as part of the approval. SOPs have been shared with the labs concerned”.
According to the meeting minutes report, “…Based on interest expressed by some of the private sector laboratories, a discussion meeting was organized with secretary DBT as the chair… In this meeting, based on the proven expertise and experience of the private sector laboratories, it was thought prudent to involve private sector laboratories for genome sequencing of Covid-19 virus and it was decided to have a standard operating procedure for involvement of private sector laboratories…”.
Under the terms of the approval, private laboratories will be required to cover the cost of sequencing without charging patients. Additionally, laboratories will be required to disclose their funding source for such tests. The samples would be sent and reported through Insacog, and the laboratories involved will be required to rigorously follow the government of India’s data protection and security standards.
Insacog was founded in January 2021 for the purpose of genomic surveillance in the country. It initially included ten national research laboratories affiliated with the department of biotechnology, the Indian council of medical research, the council of scientific and industrial research, and the Union ministry of health and family welfare. Insacog runs ten central laboratories and around thirty regional laboratories dedicated to whole genome sequencing, which is a more complex procedure than just detecting the virus. The country has around 300 sentinel stations from which positive samples are collected and transmitted for routine sampling.
Additional laboratories will be authorized slowly in the future based on the evaluation outcomes of their sequencing capabilities and infrastructure. The official said, “This is the first batch of approvals; more labs could be approved depending on whether they meet the criteria for approval or not”. According to experts, it is critical to improve genome sequencing capability in order to gain a better knowledge of disease transmission.
Dr Giridhara Babu, chief of epidemiology at Indian Institute of Public Health, spoke about the need to expand genomic sequencing. He said, “Whole genome sequencing is crucial in getting key information on the way disease is spreading, what kind of variants are in circulation, and to determine whether we are dealing with a variant of concern or not, which eventually helps in managing the outbreak”.
