My Vision: Thomas John
The last decade had shown exponential growth in the Indian health sector especially in the IVD industry. Approximately 60 percent of the diagnostic labs in India are in the smaller segment where the average tests performed in a day count to around 150 tests. Majority of these laboratories perform the tests in semiautomated platforms. These laboratories are mainly operating in the rural area where the cost of testing and cost of hardware and consumables are always a constrain and are looking for affordable systems to perform the tests.
Specific protein estimation was one of the growing markets in India dominated by the multinationals with huge systems, which was not affordable for the rural population. To answer this, we introduced the first semiautomated specific protein system Mispa-I in the year 2011, which was a great success in the industry. Later we launched the updated version of the specific protein system (Mispa-i2) in the year 2012 which changed the way specific protein testing is performed in India. In 2016, we introduced the cartridge-based specific protein system Mispa-i3 which is now exported to 55 countries around the world.
With the change in the life style, number of cardiac cases in India is increasing day by day. Another area of improvement is the diagnosis of sepsis that is one of the major factors in the hospital mortality rate. Currently, these tests are performed only in big hospitals with advanced systems. We are working hard to incorporate specific cardiac and sepsis markers in a new platform so that this test can be performed in the rural laboratories at affordable cost.
The IVD customers in India are now looking for a partner who can provide hardware and consumables in multiple disciplines at an affordable price. At present Agappe is offering products in clinical chemistry, immunochemistry, hematology, serology, urinalysis, POCT, electrolytes, and controls and calibrators covering 70 percent of the routine laboratory departments. One of the major advantage with Agappe is the fact that our products can find place in all customer segments starting from the rural labs with less than 100 tests/day to the bigger laboratories with more than 3000 tests/day. We are one among the few companies in India who can offer a wide range of products.
Agappe realized the importance of an entry level automation in the segment, which coined the idea of localization of the system rather than going for pure import. This lead to our tie up with Hitachi Chemical Company Ltd, Japan, through Technology Licensing for manufacturing the most advanced fully automatic specific protein and clinical chemistry analyzers in India.
We are working hard for the backward integration of the hardware and consumables especially in clinical chemistry, immunochemistry, and hematology segments to make affordable systems in India. We are also in discussion with industrial giants for innovative products and services to serve the Indian IVD industry. We look forward to be present ourselves in 90 percent of the lab diagnosis segment by the year 2020.
Our belief system is yet another way of reminding us that we are not selling products or services to the customers, but a promise that we at Agappe want to keep.
