In the recent years, Molbio Diagnostics’s Truenat technology has transformed the molecular diagnostics space in India. In an exclusive conversation with Financial Express.com, Sriram Natarajan, Director, and CEO, Molbio Diagnostics said that Truenat technology with its point-of-care feature has improved the diagnostic capabilities of infectious diseases.
Everybody knew RT-PCR was reliable and it is the best technology for diagnosing diseases but it was never used as a routine parameter only due to its highly centralised nature. Bigtec lab is the R&D arm of Molbio and we worked together to conceptualise this and it took us about 12 years to make our first prototype ready, which could be taken to the market. After that, we spent another 4-5 years bringing it to the level where it is now. Today, we can do tests for nearly 40 diseases. The objective of taking it to the people is now working and we are happy with that,” he told Financial Express.com.
In July 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO), endorsed three of their rapid molecular Truenat assays, Truenat MTB, Truenat MTB Plus and Truenat MTB-RIF Dx for initial diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) and subsequent detection ofrifampicin resistance in adults and children with signs and symptoms of pulmonary TB.
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Both Truenat MTB and Truenat MTB Plus detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria for TB diagnosis, while Truenat MTB-RIF Dx identifies resistance to rifampicin, the most commonly used first-line treatment. All three tests are run on the portable, battery-operated Truenat device and provide results in less than an hour.
In a press statement in 2020, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had stated that it conducted multicentre validation of Truenat MTB and Truenat MTB-RIF Dx assays followed by a feasibility study under the national programme and found them to be on par with the internationally recognized Xpert MTB/RIFmolecular assay (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, USA) in terms of sensitivity and specificity, and detection of rifampicin resistance.
Truenat assays have now been incorporated into the India National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) after a recommendation from ICMR, it stated.
“TB testing is one of the main product that we have in addition to COVID-19. In fact, everything started with the major uptake on the TB front both in India and global space. TB testing kit right now in India is already in 3000 centres and it has a huge impact. We are planning to scale it up to over 8000 centres in the next two years. Globally also there is a huge opportunity for kits coming up. As we are WHO-endorsed, all the TB-affected countries want to work with us. We are already in about nine countries for the TB programme and we expect that do go up to about 28 countries by next year,” Natarajan told Financial Express.com.
Meanwhile, the company is also focusing on launching other projects like mobile diagnostics, Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) testing and panel testing.
“We are looking to extend to other ways of testing like Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR), panel-testing which we are thinking of launching early next year and this is again PCR based but with a different system and a lot of other things are also in the pipeline and will be out soon,” he added.
Shiva Sriram, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Molbio Diagnostics told Financial Express.com that Truenat also played a crucial role in the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
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“When COVID-19 came in India, we started with one lab. National Institute of Virology (NIV) was the only lab that could test for COVID-19. From one lab with Truenat within about two month’s time India had more than 1000 labs testing for COVID-19. That was the impact. As compared to other covid-hit countries, India was ahead in geographical reach with respect to testing and it was possible only because of Truenat. Through the TB programme, there was already rolled out and fair number of Truenat devices were already available across the country. Today, in every district of India, there is atleast one Truenat,” Shiva told Financial Express.com.
As the diagnostic firm’s global presence is increasing, the Director claimed that they want to be one of the largest point-of-care solution providers worldwide and expect significant growth in the upcoming years.
“The business is going quite well and during the COVID-19 time the demands were very huge. I think as a company, from the Indian in-vitro diagnostic sector, we have been doing pretty well in the business. Going forward, we think we will be doing much larger revenues and business volumes both from the global and Indian operations. Our aim is to be one of the largest point-of-care solution provider in the world. I think in the 3-5 years we are looking at some very significant growths in the company. We are also looking at significant expansions, portfolios and also growth in the overall performance,” he added.
Moreover, the company is also planning to acquire a healthtech firm to “implement their plans”. “Yes we are planning to do that but only when there is synergy. Our goal is to provide universal access to diagnostics facilties. So, today we are doing PCR, our R&D is working on some projects but wherever it makes sense we will acquire or collaborate with companies to have solutions which can synergise with what we are doing. We are already in the process of acquiring a company that provide healthtech services to implement plans that we have,” he added.
Meanwhile, the company will also soon launch more tests like clostridium difficile and various TB varieties. “The market opportunity is very exciting for us…We are already ahead of the curve in terms of what we can offer to the global elimination targets,” he added.
Last month, Singapore-based investment firm Temasek had invested $85 million (around ₹680 crore) in the Goa-based diagnostics chain. The company was reportedly valued at $1.6 billion post the round. Known for its molecular diagnostic testing platform, it became the 108th unicorn after Tata 1mg made it to the list. Currently, the diagnostics chain operator has a presence in over 40 countries and it plans to further add 20-25 countries every year.
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