Elaborate on the plans and strategies to strengthen Randox’s position in the Indian medical diagnostics market?
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Julie Gray
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Randox has had a significant presence in India for over a decade and, since the opening of our manufacturing facility in Bangalore in 2012, we now employ almost 100 people across the country and have a long term and loyal dedicated customer base.
Randox pride themselves on delivering high quality, innovative products to customers in approximately 145 countries worldwide, while providing impeccable service and support. Our operation in India is certainly no exception to this ethos, with our growing team of well trained and experienced sales and support staff.
While visiting India again recently, I was delighted to hear from so many of our customers across the country, some of who have been working with us for 12 years or more, telling me that they continue to be impressed by the quality of our products coupled with the unrivalled service they receive; and it is because of this strategy that we have such a loyal customer base in India.
Our ability to adapt our core products to suit market needs is also a key strategy in strengthening Randox’s position. Take for example when our multi-analyte revolutionary Biochip Array Technology was launched into the clinical market. Randox recognised possible applications in markets as diverse as forensics and food production. This has allowed for a significant expansion in our customer base in India, where we supply leading honey producers with the technology to test for pesticides for example.
Why is this the right time to expand in the Indian market? How would it be beneficial to Randox’s global strategy?
As one of the world’s major growth economies, the scale of the Indian market means there is always room for new business opportunities. India currently ranks in the top 5 of our largest export markets and the potential for growth is palpable.
Randox have found that the interest in personalised medicine and our ability to search for any disease condition online means that people in India are continuing to be extremely interested in their own health. This means that patients want to be diagnosed and treated with the highest quality, innovative products that the market has to offer. Randox is therefore perfectly placed to provide these services. We reinvest approximately 20 per cent of our turnover annually back in to our research and development activity and with around 30 per cent of our workforce employed in this area, we are always delivering innovative solutions to diagnostics.
Randox is therefore expanding their presence not just in India but globally.
Are there any new tests or kits planned for launch in the Indian market?
As a highly innovative global biotechnology company, Randox is always developing and releasing new products; in fact we currently have 400 new tests in development – more than any other company in the world.
According to recent statistics released by Mumbai’s Asian Heart Institute, heart disease will account for 35.9 per cent deaths in India by the year 2030. Randox offers the largest cardiac test menu in the world and we will be releasing a number of new arrays into the Indian market this year. Heart Fatty Acid Binding Protein (H-FABP), a biomarker of myocardial ischemia, detectable within 15-30 minutes is already gathering immense interest in India, alongside Lp(a), homocysteine and, most recently, TxB Cardio, which measures a patient’s resistance to Aspirin following on from studies showing that 25-30 per cent of all patients using the drug are resistant to it.
There are more diabetics in India than in any other country in the world (30-40 million), and with up to 8.7 per cent of the population thought to be suffering from impaired glucose tolerance, levels look set to rise even further. The need for a comprehensive testing menu is therefore vital. We are releasing our novel adiponectin and fructosamine biomarkers in India shortly to further complement our extensive menu.
Adiponectin assesses an individual’s risk of developing diabetes, and allows resources and treatment to be focused on those patients most at risk. This highly targeted strategy should help to decrease the number of people becoming diabetic in India, while using resources most effectively.
Randox Enzymatic Fructosamine has the ability to test glycaemic control in diabetes patients who also have the haemoglobin-related disease, thalassemia. Thalassemia is particularly prevalent on the Indian subcontinent, with 10 per cent of sufferers living here. HbA1c has been found to be quite ineffective in monitoring diabetic control in patients with thalassemia (because it measures haemoglobin), and so fructosamine testing in these diabetes patients is crucial.
We have a number of other tests due to be released this year, including a novel bilirubin, Cystatin C and fifth generation bile-acids. This is all on top of the thousands of tests Randox currently offer, our world-leading series of RX analysers and quality control material, our external quality assessment (EQA) scheme RIQAS and our revolutionary multi-analyte platform, Biochip Array Technology. RIQAS has now grown to be the largest EQA scheme in the world and as the widest reaching programme, demand for this continues to grow in India.
You have been touring India for more strategic partnerships. How effective has the endeavour been, any new deals or partnerships in the pipeline?
Our visit to India in February was incredibly successful, and building relationships with key future customers as well as maintaining those with our existing ones is incredibly important to Randox.
Randox always have new deals in the pipeline. We had a very successful year in terms of sales in 2013 and certainly hope to improve on this further in 2014. Our recently secured contract to provide clinical instruments to the Rajasthan government for their free healthcare initiative, is further evidence that Indian confidence and loyalty in the Randox brand continues to grow. We are very excited for our future here, and for how we can contribute to healthcare in India.
With so many growth plans in the offing, do you intend to scale up in terms of manpower?
As one of the world’s major growth economies, the scale of the market in India means that there is always room for new business opportunities, and with that comes new employment opportunities. Part of the reason for my visit to India in February was to interview for a number of new positions and we continue to always look at ways to expand our workforce here.
How is the diagnostics market in India vis-a-vis the global market?
Growing!! There are a number of drivers leading to growth in the industry. High population growth rate and increased levels of affluence is a significant factor, and as a result of that comes the need to increase India’s number of hospitals and diagnostic laboratories.
India also places a high regard on innovation, and is a very receptive market to new technologies and products, so Randox’s commitment to research and development is very much embraced. In today’s society of increased levels of sedentary lifestyles and disease, the market in India is forced to push diagnostics faster than the steep incline of chronic conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Within the market in India there is a high demand for cost effective, faster and sensitive results, while at the same time producing accurate and efficient outcomes.
What are the trends reigning in the healthcare diagnostics market in India?
The steadily growing number of medical centres in India, along with the ever increasing patient population has resulted in a growing target base of consumers which in turn will result the market to exhibit steady growth in the future. Diagnostic laboratories are opening, not just in the metro cities like Mumbai or Delhi but also in smaller cities. As mentioned previously, the Internet acts as an enormous and easily accessible virtual research library for patients, meaning that people globally are demanding a more personalised approach to healthcare, which further opens the need for diagnostic laboratories and clinics.