16th June 2015, New Delhi : Agrinnovate India Limited (A Govt of India Enterprise) and M/s Arsh biotech Pvt Ltd, New Delhi entered into a Memorandum of Agreement for the technology of FMD liquid phase blocking-ELISA (LPB-ELISA) kit developed by ICAR-Project Directorate on Foot & Mouth Disease, Mukteshwar. The MoA agreement took place on 16 June, 2015 in presence of Dr. S. Ayyappan, Secretary DARE and Director General, ICAR.
The commercialisation of this ELISA Kit will ensure easy availability of the kits in coming years in the country.
Foot and Mouth Disease is a highly infectious viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals including domestic and wild bovids. The causative agent is Foot and Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV. FMD affects millions of farm animals in the world that are of great economic importance. Global impact of FMD outbreak has been estimated tens of billions of dollars. In India alone, direct losses due to FMD are estimated at Rs 20,000 crores.
The partnership will boost the National FMD Control Programme of Government of India and would be useful to meet the diagnostic requirements of the country.