Molbio Diagnostics unveils Truenat MTB-INH test for drug resistance in TB patients

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.

As per the National Strategic Plan (NSP) 2017-2025 for TB eradication, the Government of India has taken a policy decision to decentralize and democratize access to advanced rapid molecular diagnostics for TB by introducing Truenat in every block of the country, as a replacement to the currently used smear microscopy. This will enable early and accurate diagnosis of the deadly disease at the first point of patient contact, which is critical to achieving elimination goals.

"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 stated.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. 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.

Also commenting on the launch, Dr. Chandrasekhar Nair, CTO, and Director, of Molbio Diagnostics, said, “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.

Truenat is a point-of-care, portable, battery-operated, IoT-enabled, multi-disease, Real-Time PCR platform with a sample-to-result time of less than 1 hour. The platform can test over 40 diseases, such as COVID-19, TB, HCV, HBV, HIV, HPV, Dengue, Malaria, Influenza, Herpes and typhoid.