IIT-M, WIA to commercialise point-of-care diagnostic device for ovarian cancer

The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) is collaborating with the Cancer Institute (WIA) at Adyar in Chennai to develop a point-of-care device for the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer. The two institutions have entered into an MoU to further develop and validate this technology and transfer it to a suitable industrial partner to manufacture and market the kit to the general public. Funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Department of Molecular Oncology at the Cancer Institute [WIA] has undertaken research to identify proteins that can be detected in the blood which can help in the diagnosis of epithelial ovarian cancers, which accounts for over 90 per cent of the ovarian cancers. On the other hand, IIT-M has received funding from IndoGerman Science and Technology Centre (IGSTC), DST- Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) and Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) to develop point-of-care diagnostic platforms for pathogen detection and disease diagnosis. Novel diagnostic device technologies for important diseases specific to India, in particular, tuberculosis and COVID-19 are at the preclinical validation stage. Both institutions will establish a review board and will obtain the necessary ethical clearances to evaluate and review the progress arising from this collaboration.