India has archived over 90,000 samples of Covid-19 positive patients in 17 bio-repositories meant for research and development of vaccine and therapeutics for coronavirus.
The government notified these bio-repositories on 23 May 2020. These are set up at laboratories of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). A total of 90,361 samples including serum, nasopharyngeal swab, plasma, peripheral blood mononuclear Cells, etc. have been archived so far.
These designated bio-repositories will use the clinical samples for R&D purposes and are authorized to share the samples with academia, industry, and commercial entities involved in the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines, etc., after scrutinizing the purpose of the request and ensuring benefit to the country. Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) for sample collection, transportation, aliquoting, storage, and sharing have been developed.
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