Goa-based Molbio Diagnostics has launched Truenat MTB-INH for testing the presence of isoniazid resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. The test is validated by ICMR and approved by CDSCO and can provide sample-to-test results in an hour's time, the diagnostic company said in a statement on Thursday.
Multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a serious public health issue. So far resistance to Rifampicin was assumed as resistance to Isoniazid also for deciding the case as susceptible or MDR-TB. However, the growing occurrence of Isoniazid mono-resistance is posing a major challenge to the treatment of Rifampicin Susceptible Isoniazid resistant (Hr-TB) patients who often end up with treatment failure, relapse and develop further drug resistance.
The new treatment recommendations issued by the WHO for treating Hr-TB patients necessitate the diagnosis of INH resistance in Rifampicin susceptible patients. Thus, the detection of INH resistance is crucial for the treatment and control of MDR-TB.
Molbio said that Truenat MTB-INH will immediately be available to the existing 3300 PHCs/CHCs using Truenat under the National TB Elimination Program (NTEP) as per program needs."Truenat MTB-INH is also expected to play a major role internationally, in high TB-burden countries as well as countries that already have a policy in place for INH testing on all TB-positive samples," the company's statement said.
Sriram Natarajan, CEO, Founder, and Director, of Molbio Diagnostics, said, “The current launch of Truenat MTB-INH further strengthens Molbio’s product portfolio of providing complete testing solutions through the Truenat platform. Once introduced in all the blocks, every TB patient will have access to MDR TB testing at the same TB testing centre with reporting on the same day so correct treatment can also begin on the same day thus enabling better treatment outcomes and bringing down the disease spread."
“Molecular methods such as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) or Real-Time PCR are revolutionizing disease diagnosis and management and Truenat has been a game changer in this regard as a point of care molecular platform that offers over 40 tests right at the point of need. The launch of the Truenat MTB INH test is another milestone in our TB portfolio," said Dr Chandrasekhar Nair, CTO, and Director, of Molbio Diagnostics.