Leading science and technology firm Merck on Thursday announced a donation of Rs 1.7 crore over two years to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay to support the development of clinical tests for Covid-19 disease severity assessment.
"With this donation, Merck is aiding IIT in the early identification of Covid-19 virus severity to facilitate appropriate healthcare management which will help to relieve the pressure that has been put on the healthcare system in the country,” Merck India, Life Science Business MD, Sunil Punjabi said.
The funded project is an ongoing Covid-19 multi-omics research on the development of simple immunoassays based on Single Molecule Counting technology to identify low-levels of early disease severity markers, Merck said in a statement.
"Validation using immunoassay platforms like single molecule counting technology will be highly beneficial for rapid clinical translation. Our partnership with Merck is a natural next step in this direction and we are grateful to them for supporting our mission," IIT Bombay Director Subhasis Chaudhuri said.
Published 26 August 2021, 11:29 IST