C-CAMP hosts National Diagnostics Conclave to shape the future of India’s Diagnostic innovation

C-CAMP hosts National Diagnostics Conclave to shape the future of India’s Diagnostic innovation

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), hosted the first edition of National Diagnostics Conclave, at its Bengaluru campus today in the presence of senior leadership including Dr. Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, Office of Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Government of India, Dr. Nivedita Gupta, Scientist G & Head, Communicable Diseases Division, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Dr. Harish Iyer, Health R&D, Digital Innovations and AI, Gates Foundation.

The event was convened to chart out a collective vision and strategy for diagnostics innovation and implementation towards greater health equity for India and LMICs.

The event brought together experts including Dr. Rakesh Mishra, Director, Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS), Dr. Sangeeta Agarwal, Scientist F, PSA, Dr. Praveen Bharti, Director, ICMR-National Institute of Research in Tribal Health, and key stakeholders from Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), PATH, Centres of Excellence, members and partners — Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, FIND — of the Indigenisation of Diagnostics National Diagnostics Catapult programme.

The conclave also marked three years of progress of this flagship initiative and paved the way to the next quantum leap in diagnostics and pandemic preparedness beyond COVID-19.

The event launched the National Diagnostics Catapult Impact Report, capturing the programme’s genesis, evolution, and impact. It also unveiled environmental surveillance kits for Real time detection of SARS CoV2, Respiratory syncytial virus, Influenza viruses and Carbapenemase resistance in wastewater.

The InDx Guidance Manual, which highlights key design principles and outlines India’s regulatory pathway for IVD devices was also released.

Panel discussions throughout the day highlighted the strategic pillars of the National Diagnostics Catapult (NDxC) including strengthening the national validation and innovation infrastructure and diagnostics development with priority diseases and public health impact.

The three panel discussions were:

Delivering National Priorities: Affordable Solutions for Diagnostics and Surveillance for National Programs
Making it Happen: Enabling Diagnostics Developers and manufacturers for Impact
From Risk to Readiness: Enabling Pathogen Prioritisation and Pandemic Preparedness for India and Beyond

The conclave reaffirmed NDxC’s role as a national enabler for diagnostics innovation and sovereignty, deepen partnerships with regulatory and public health bodies, engage the industry and global funders, and define a clear pathway for the next generation of high-impact diagnostic technologies for India.

Quotes:

Dr. Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Govt. of India added: “The C-CAMP InDx initiative was conceptualised with support from the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, reflecting a national vision for diagnostics self-reliance. This programme has brought together diagnostic manufacturers and India’s leading research centres of excellence onto a single platform, enabling the identification and bridging of key regulatory and R&D gaps. It has also fostered innovation by facilitating access to reference standards and strengthening evidence generation systems, particularly for infectious diseases where data infrastructure has traditionally been limited.”

Dr. Nivedita Gupta, Scientist G and Head of the Communicable Diseases Division, ICMR, appreciated C-CAMP's work and highlighted the ongoing collaboration to develop India-specific, cost-effective multiplex diagnostic panels tailored to local clinical syndromes. She emphasised that such panels will address the significant number of pathogens often overlooked in current International diagnostic frameworks. "We need to build a well-characterised biorepository to support manufacturers and developers in creating robust diagnostic kits. Establishing reliable reference standards is equally critical, and it gives stakeholders across the ecosystem a chance to come together and move forward together. Ultimately, the goal is true indigenisation, developing affordable, high-quality diagnostic solutions that are on par with international standards."

Dr. Harish Iyer, Health R&D, Digital Innovations and AI, Gates Foundation, highlighted the importance of diagnostics in public health. He noted the Foundation’s commitment to ending preventable deaths, eliminating diseases, and driving economic progress. Emphasising its work in India, he said that collaboration with C-CAMP is pivotal in catalysing innovation, identifying transformative solutions and expanding access to diverse populations for a long-term impact. He added the Foundation’s diagnostics and infectious disease mitigation goals align perfectly with C-CAMP Indx’s vision. He looked forward to indigenous diagnostics achieving the same level of success as India’s vaccination efforts.

Dr. Rakesh Mishra, Director, Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS), noted "Good science should not remain confined to laboratories; it must percolate into society and address the real problems and create a meaningful impact. C-CAMP has been acting as a catalyst for this change by fostering innovation. This can serve local needs and also contribute to the world through high-quality products and solutions. There is a strong opportunity for India to position itself as a global leader in diagnostics and surveillance. Today's conclave can play a critical role in making that happen. They help connect industry partners, incubators, funders, and innovators, bringing together all essential components of the ecosystem."

Dr. Taslimarif Saiyed, Dir. & CEO, C-CAMP reflected: “In February 2023, we launched the C-CAMP InDx National Diagnostics Catapult in collaboration with Rockefeller Foundation, Gates Foundation and FIND under the guidance of the OPSA with an aim to establish India’s much needed capacity for diagnostics and disease surveillance capabilities in infectious disease domain, beyond and over COVID. The C-CAMP InDx Catapult programme has now evolved into a comprehensive platform designed to support preparedness and innovation across every stage of the IVD development lifecycle. Through the conclave, we look forward to chart out a collective vision and strategy for diagnostics innovation and implementation towards greater health equity for India and LMICs.”

More about the InDx programme:

In the middle of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, C-CAMP, initiated a pathbreaking progamme, the Indigenisation of Diagnostics (InDx) to radically change India’s COVID diagnostics landscape as an emergency response to the lack of accessible and affordable kits

Set up with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, guided by the Office of the principal Scientific Adviser to the Govt. of India, InDx went onto manufacture a million RT-PCR kits daily at the height of the SARS COVID-19 pandemic.

62 of the 102 ICMR/CDSCO approved RT-PCR kits for COVID-19 and 21 rapid antigen/antibody testing kits in India were affiliated with CCAMP-InDx cohort, bringing COVID testing within the reach of the common public resulting in better health outcomes and pandemic preparedness for the country’s public health system.

Over the past six years, C-CAMP’s InDx programme has emerged as one of India’s most influential platforms for advancing diagnostics innovation addressing a broader spectrum of priority infectious diseases including:

influenza
RSV
dengue
chikungunya
malaria
scrub typhus
typhoid
tuberculosis

InDx has evolved into National Diagnostics Catapult (NDxC)—a national platform enabling innovation, validation, scale-up, and preparedness for pathogen threats of today and tomorrow.

Spread across 6 nation-wide Centres of Excellence and an 8-site clinical validation network, the National Diagnostics Catapult supports a cohort of 300+ India-based IVD kit academic and industry innovators, product developers and manufacturers.

In January 2026, the InDx lab at CCAMP received ISO 17025 certification from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories NABL-QC establishing itself as a global player in diagnostics development and manufacture.

Through the last 3 years of the catapult, the programme has enabled rapid-response diagnostics kits for COVID-19 and its variants, TB, Dengue, Malaria, Chikungunya and more.

The Catapult has delivered 3 out of 4 ICMR-approved TB assays in the country right now, advancing India’s TB diagnostic self-reliance, through simpler, contextually sustainable TB

RT-PCR formats, cutting costs and removing cold-chain needs

It has supported assessments of IVD kits for Dengue, Malaria, and Chikungunya, closing India’s long-standing clinical evaluation gap
It has enabled rapid outbreak response with 12 Mpox and 12 HMPV kits developed within two weeks of outbreak.

Press Coverage:

Date:

April 20, 2026

News Link:

https://www.ccamp.res.in/node/9203

C-CAMP hosts National Diagnostics Conclave to shape the future of India’s Diagnostic innovation

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