Transasia Bio-Medicals recently announced that it will soon be foraying into the Rs 300 crore Indian molecular diagnostics space. It unveiled the MX 16, a fully automated nucleic acid extractor, at the 50th Union World Conference on Lung Health and TB in Hyderabad. The MX 16 has been developed by Erba Molecular, a UK subsidiary of the Transasia-Erba Group.
The new system will offer an easy-to-use and lower priced molecular TB test in India, with the goal of replacing traditional smear microscopy. The system will be particularly beneficial to India, which has the highest burden of TB and drug-resistant TB: One in four TB patients globally are in India. Also, 89 per cent of affected individuals in India are in the productive age group 15-69, which makes it a critical national health issue to be addressed. Though TB incidence in India has been declining at 1.7 per cent annually since 2016, it is estimated that it needs to fall by 10 per cent annually to reach the Government’s 2025 goal of ending TB in the country. Currently a significant number of TB patients remain undiagnosed for long and out of those diagnosed, only 65 per cent of cases in India are treated. According to the Tuberculosis India Report 2019, there has been a 16 per cent increase in cases compared to 2017, further raising the need for early, simple and accurate diagnostics, which is a crucial element of any successful strategy to address TB in India. To this effect, Molecular testing has been included in first ever Essential Diagnostics List announced in 2018 by the WHO, further stressing the need for timely diagnosis of TB.
Announcing the foray, Suresh Vazirani, Chairman and Managing Director, Transasia-Erba International Group said, “Erba Molecular in UK is among a handful of companies in the world having state-of-the-art, proprietary molecular diagnostic technology. The unveiling of MX 16 and our upcoming entry into the molecular diagnostics segment in India, is part of our commitment to bringing the best in IVD globally to benefit the Indian public.”
