According to India TB Report 2021, the NGS test has already been recommended by the Central TB division as a preferred diagnostic technology for TB
Metropolis Healthcare yesterday launched NEXTGEN TB whole genome sequencing of tuberculosis utilising the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) platform for rapid identification of drug resistance in TB patients and providing genotypic level information on drug-resistant genes for up to 18 TB antibiotics, a statement from the company said.
Partnering with HaystackAnalytics (a start-up incubated at SINE, IIT Bombay), Metropolis Healthcare has become the first diagnostic service provider in India to launch NGS as a routine diagnostic test, and plans to offer this test in Sri Lanka, Mauritius, the UAE, Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania as well as three other African countries to help their fight against tuberculosis, the statement added.
It further said that the 18 drugs covered are Streptomycin, Isoniazid, Rifampicin, Ethambutol, Pyrazinamide, Kanamycin, Amikacin, Capreomycin, Ofloxacin, Moxifloxacin, Gatifloxacin, Ethionamide, Para-amino salicylic acid, Linezolid, Clofazimine, Bedaquiline, Pretomanid and Delaminid.
“NEXGEN TB has a better turnaround time with much faster and reliable results. Additionally, any novel drug resistance genetic mutations can be identified by whole-genome sequencing using NGS,” the statement said.
According to India TB Report 2021, the NGS test has already been recommended by the Central TB division as a preferred diagnostic technology for TB but the launch of the technology in India was to date hindered due to the lack of technical and computational bottlenecks which Metropolis Healthcare has stepped up to solve, it notified.
Talking about the launch, Ameera Shah, promoter and Managing Director, Metropolis Healthcare, commented, “It’s an honour to partner with homegrown start-up, HaystackAnalytics to help launch NEXTGEN TB, as its need has become essential to this world. With TB being around long enough for everyone to know how lethal it could be, it is a moment of pride to be able to launch such a test as we hope this could help us cope with the silent pandemic which has been smouldering against us for so many years.”
Adding to it, Dr Rohini Kelkar, Consultant, Clinical Microbiologist and Specialist, Metropolis Healthcare, said, “This test is important as everyone can see the statistics given by the World Health Organisation (WHO), that every day, around 30,000 people fall sick and about 4,300 people succumb to TB. India being the hub of TB infection with more than 30 lakh cases every year, it is vital to have a test like this which is readily available, and it should potentially help us reduce these numbers by significant margins.”
Dr Niranjan Patil (MD, Microbiology), Scientific Business head- Infectious Diseases, Microbiology and Molecular biology- Head and Biosafety Officer, Metropolis Healthcare, said, “With a high burden of TB in India, understanding the genetic diversity among TB bacilli isolated from patient samples and the genetic determinants for their resistance to anti-tubercular drugs is crucial to stop TB transmission. Whole-genome sequencing-based tests such as Nextgen TB not only identifies the TB species involved, but, in one go, it helps reduce the time for performing anti-TB drug susceptibility from weeks to just seven to 10 days thus saving crucial time for initiation of evidence-based treatment regimens as well as complementing the TB culture-based tests. It also helps to identify any novel mutations responsible for TB drug resistance which is an added advantage.”