CSIR-CCMB, Apollo Hospitals announces collaboration to develop cost-effective COVID-19 testing kits ANI | Updated: Dec 11, 2020 19:24 IST Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], December 11 (ANI): The CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and the Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited have announced a collaboration for joint manufacturing and commercialisation of an innovative dry swab test, Direct Amplification rapid RT-PCR (DArRT-PCR) - for SARS-CoV-2 detection. The test that will be available across the country through the network of Apollo Hospitals, will focus on increasing the manufacturing and commercialisation of the tests jointly, a release issued on Thursday said. As per the release, the DArRT-PCR test helps in rapid, safer and more cost-effective SARS-COV-2 testing. The centres collecting samples can send dry nasal or oropharyngeal swabs to testing centres without any requirement for imported and costly Viral Transport Medium.