BioSpectrum India July 2021

Volume 19 Issue 7 July 2021 www.biospectrumindia.com Total pages including cover 52

Lab
Automation
Travails in India

Upscale healthcare workforce
with right training – 33

“We see growing interest of
healthcare testing labs in implementing
next-gen lab automation solutions”
- Pradeep Nagisetty,
Country Manager - India & Sub Continent,
Abbott Informatics - STARLIMS, Hyderabad – 29



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4 BIO CONTENT BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Volume 19 Issue 7 July 2021 www.biospectrumindia.com Total pages including cover 52

Lab
Automation
Travails in India

Upscale healthcare workforce
with right training – 33
“We see growing interest of
healthcare testing labs in implementing
next-gen lab automation solutions”
- Pradeep Nagisetty,

Country Manager - India & Sub Continent,
Abbott Informatics - STARLIMS, Hyderabad – 29

COVER
DESIGN BY:
DOMINIX STRATEGIC
DESIGN PVT. LTD.

COVER STORY 22.......................................................................................................................................................

LAB AUTOMATION
TRAVAILS IN INDIA

Whether it is the industry or academia, life sciences workers are gradually accepting the fact
that lab data digitisation improves processes, simplifies workflows and makes research and
development (R&D) more efficient. With increasing advances in machine learning (ML) and
artificial intelligence (AI), digitisation in the research environment is set to become an integral part
of every laboratory worldwide. But in emerging markets such as India, there are a large number of
factors responsible for its slow adoption such as lack of skilled workforce, high maintenance and
service costs, limited expertise, data security etc.

25 26 28

Deploy LIMS to Partnerships to bring in India is well placed to
fast-track the “Made in India’’ innovate on existing open-
healthcare system solutions for source opportunities
Amit Chopra, automated instruments Richard Fitzpatrick,
Thomas John,
Managing Director, Bioinformatician & Curriculum
India and South Asia, Managing Director, Developer, University of Edinburgh, UK,
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Agappe Diagnostics, currently working in collaboration
Mumbai Ernakulam with the Gujarat Biotechnology
University, Gandhinagar

Speaking with 31

29 “Organisations
need to adapt
‘‘We see growing interest to become more
of healthcare testing labs, and more flexible”
Pharmaceutical QC and R&D Dr Rajnish Bharti,
labs in implementing next-gen
lab automation solutions’’ General Manager,
Pradeep Nagisetty, Promega Biotech India, New Delhi

Country Manager - India & Sub Continent,
Abbott Informatics - STARLIMS, Hyderabad

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com Top Video BIO CONTENT 5

Digitalisation Dr Sanjay
V. Malhotra,
32 Director, Centre
for Experimental
Weighing up Therapeutics, Knight
pros and cons of Cancer Institute, US
Lab Digitalisation stresses upon innate
Aditya Berlia, immune modulation
and resistance to
Co-Promoter, Apeejay Stya COVID-19.
& Svran Group, New Delhi
Scan the QR Code »
Education
Sandeep Thombre,
33 Delivery Head-
Industrial Design,
Upscale healthcare London Design
workforce with right training Studio, Tata
Elxsi, UK focuses
CDM on trends that
healthcare product
36 design will witness
post COVID-19.
7 Tech enablers of new age
clinical data management Scan the QR Code »
Shrishaila Patil,
Dr Jasmine
Vice President, Bagga, Application
Statistical Programming, Scientist, APAC
Navitas Life Sciences Biotech, Gurugram
(a TAKE Solutions Enterprise), Bengaluru shares her views
on the evolution of
Starups hyper-personalised
medicine.
37
Scan the QR Code »
Pandemic sets new
benchmarks for early-stage
healthcare startups
Nritya Ganesh,

Director Program Management &
India Edison Accelerator Program Leader,
GE Healthcare, Bengaluru

Regulars

BioEdit ............................................................................... 06
BioMail .............................................................................. 08
Policy and Regulatory News.......................................... 10
Company News............................................................... 14
Finance News................................................................... 16
Start-up News.................................................................. 18
WHO News........................................................................ 19
World News...................................................................... 20
People News..................................................................... 40
Academics News............................................................. 42
R&D News......................................................................... 44
Supplier News.................................................................. 48
Let’s Talk Health & Science.....................................50

6 BIO EDIT BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Nip monopolism in the bud

The Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association required. India has 1500 API manufacturing units,
(IDMA) has expressed its dismay after the but its import from China grew steadily from mere
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme was 0.3 per cent in 1991 to the present level, probably
launched by the Centre. due to the cost factor. China created a low cost API
manufacturing industry and captured Indian market
In its letter to the government, the association with cheaper products. China’s production cost
stated, without mincing words that selecting only one stands at quarter of India’s.
manufacturer for one molecule in the case of 21 key
molecules will create a monopoly, making medicines Although the government’s reaction to this grim
expensive. As a representative organisation of the reality is appreciable, it should, as a pragmatic
pharma industry, it has even dubbed the scheme approach, listen to the industry’s grievance in its
‘rigged’. implementation.

Among the various PLI schemes announced last As per the scheme’s details, up to four companies
year to boost the economy and generate employment, were to be permitted to produce any raw material.
one was for promoting self-sufficiency in production But in the case of 20 products, only one company has
of drug raw materials. The government approved Rs been selected. As claimed by the IDMA, if the scheme,
6,940 crore to help increase production of 41 key raw is creating a monopoly, it is not acceptable. This will
materials. make drug makers dependent on that company alone,
for a particular raw material.
This was because the spread of COVID-19 in
China and subsequent closure of companies there Monopolism in running a country or a company
exposed India’s strategic vulnerabilities in the must not be tolerated. It would act adversely in two
pharma sector in the beginning of the last year. One ways. No other producer will be able to compete
area that made India think seriously and act following in that particular segment of APIs. The monopoly
lockdown in China was developing self-sufficiency pricing of raw materials may ultimately make
in active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), Key medicines costlier. So, the government will have to
Starting Materials (KSMs) and Drug Intermediates watch for this.
(DI). A permanent solution for reducing dependency
on China is needed considering China’s habit of Though the scheme came into being as an
raking up border dispute by its actions. outcome of COVID-19, API self-sufficiency is
important from a political angle also and hence it
India has the third largest pharma industry should not be a temporary affair – till the scheme is
producing 20 per cent generic drugs and 60 per cent in operation. For that, the cost angle of China will
vaccines of the total world production and exported have to be kept in mind and the APIs will have to be
to 200 countries. But, the industry is dependent made available at competitive prices to China’s.
on China for its raw materials like APIS, KSMs, DI,
reagents, enzymes and antibodies. The KPMH study shows that except for labour,
all other cost factors like raw material, electricity and
Dependence on China is so heavy that almost 85 other costs are higher in India than China, making
per cent of India’s API need is fulfilled with imports the production cost in China 20 to 30 per cent lower
and of that, 68 per cent (by value) comes from China. than India.
In 2018-19, API imports from China were worth
Rs 17,400 crore. Dependence on China is high in While the PLI scheme is a good start, addressing
the case of fermentation-based APIs (antibiotics), the industry concerns and bringing down the
feedstock and KSMs. In case of at least 5 APIs the production cost will only help achieving the goal of
total import (by volume) was from China, KPMG/CII self-sufficiency in APIs production.
report has revealed.
Dr Milind Kokje
To produce 53 APIs or bulk drugs 41 KSMs are Chief Editor

[email protected]



8 BIO MAIL BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Vol 19; Issue 6; June 2021

Acknowledgements I think the article titled ‘Precision
Medicine to reshape healthcare delivery’
Thank you for the cover story. We came out together well. It seemed well
need to identify indigenous solutions articulated.
to tackle the problem of anti-microbial
resistance. - Aarti Natu Chitale, Mumbai

- Dr Taslimarif Saiyed, Bengaluru Thank you so much for the coverage
on Voxtur Bio. The cover story looks
Thanks a ton for sharing and covering great!
the story on Siemens Healthineers.
- Priyanka Sharma, Mumbai
- Khushboo Bhadani, Mumbai

Vol 19; Issue 7; July 2021 MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications

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10 POLICY AND REGULATORY NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Health Ministry orders 44 Cr COVID-19 vaccine doses till Dec 21

Based on the various health facilities. In immediate an order with Serum Institute
representations received by follow-up of the Prime of India for 25 crore doses of
the Union Government, the Minister’s announcement COVISHIELD and with Bharat
vaccination for all adults above of these changes in the Biotech for 19 crore doses of
18 years of age was opened with Guidelines COVAXIN. These 44 crore doses
the onset of Liberalised Phase III of National of COVID-19 vaccines will be
of India’s vaccination strategy COVID available till December 2021,
on May 1, 2021. Now with the Vaccination starting now. Additionally,
aim to further universalise the programme 30 per cent of the advance for
countrywide vaccination drive, on June 7, the procurement of both the vaccines
all citizens above 18 years of age Union Health has been released to Serum
can receive the COVID-19 vaccine Ministry Institute of India and Bharat
doses free of cost at Government has placed Biotech.

Govt enforces 70% Digitised versions
trade margin cap on
O2 concentrators of health schemes

The government has decided to step-in to regulate the price of available on NHA’s
oxygen concentrators due to the recent volatility in maximum
retail prices (MRP). As per information collected by the IT platform
government, margin at the level of distributor currently ranges
up to 198 per cent. In larger public interest, the National Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister
Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has capped the trade of Health and Family Welfare, has
margin up to 70 per cent on Price to Distributor (PTD) level launched the revamped Central
on oxygen concentrators. Earlier, in February 2019, NPPA had Government Health Scheme
successfully capped the trade margin on anti-cancer drugs. (CGHS) and the Umbrella schemes
Based on the notified trade margin, NPPA has instructed the of Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN)
manufacturers / importers to report revised MRPs. Every and Health Minister’s Discretionary
retailer, dealer, hospital and institution shall display a price Grant (HMDG) on National Health
list as furnished by the manufacturer, on a conspicuous part Authority (NHA)’s IT platform. Just
of the business premises in a manner to be easily accessible to like the technological interventions
any person wishing to consult the same. The manufacturers / in opening bank accounts, Public
importers not complying with the revised MRP after trade margin Financial Management System
capping, shall be liable to deposit the overcharged amount along (PFMS), subsidies through Direct
with interest at 15 per cent and penalty up to 100 per cent under Benefit Transfer (DBT), Ayushman
the provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 read Bharat scheme for paperless
with Essential Commodities Act, 1955. treatment of patients, this initiative
of convergence of CGHS, RAN and
HMDG with NHA platform is also
designed to with the vision of making
the healthcare services available
transparently and swiftly to the needy
citizens. E-referral module developed
by the National Informatics Centre
(NIC) has enabled CGHS dispensaries
and wellness centres to issue online
referral to empanelled hospitals. The
hospital’s processing of application,
submission of claims, CGHS team’s
sanctioning, release of payment
would be done online on the platform
henceforth.



12 POLICY AND REGULATORY NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Telangana India proposes BRICS Consortium to
implements tackle NCDs as flagship programme
Ayushman
Bharat PM-JAY Experts deliberated on emerging issues in the various fields of
Scheme Biotechnology and Biomedicine at the fourth BRICS Working Group
meeting on the subject area. BRICS is the acronym coined to associate
The National Health five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South
Authority (NHA) has Africa. More than 60 participants, including researchers, academicians,
signed a Memorandum and government officials participated in the online meeting organized on
of Understanding (MoU) May 25-26, 2021. The members
with the Government of of the working group on
Telangana to implement Biotechnology and Biomedicine
Ayushman Bharat Pradhan suggested future directions
Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana of research collaboration
(AB PM-JAY) in the state among BRICs countries in the
with immediate effect. The areas such as Antimicrobial
Ayushman Bharat scheme Resistance, Artificial
has been integrated with Intelligence and Digital Health
the existing state scheme Medicine, Non-Communicable
‘Aarogyasri’ and this Diseases (NCDs), Neurological
converged scheme is being Disorders, Agro-biotechnology,
called Ayushman Bharat PM- Food and Nutrition, Cancer, long Post-COVID Challenges and
JAY Aarogyasri. With the Complications including Molecular Pathogenesis of COVID-19 virus.
launch of Ayushman Bharat India proposed BRICS Consortium to address Post COVID challenges,
PM-JAY in Telangana, tackling NCDs as Flagship Programme whereas Russia proposed
the scheme has been Sustainable Agro-biotechnology for Healthy Food & Nutrition, advanced
further expanded and now Virtual Reality assisted technology for neurorehabilitation. China
encompasses 33 States/ proposed Cancer research as a Flagship Programme.
UTs. With this convergence,
approximately 26 lakhs Govt pays Biological E
beneficiary families (around Rs 1500 Cr for 30 Cr vaccines
1.3 crore individuals) as
per SECC, 2011 data will Union Ministry of Health has August-December 2021. For this
be eligible to avail services finalised arrangements with purpose, the Union Ministry
under the scheme in the Hyderabad-based vaccine of Health would be making
state. While the eligible manufacturer Biological E to an advance payment of Rs
population of the state reserve 30 crores of COVID-19 1500 crore to Biological E. The
would benefit from free vaccine doses. These vaccine COVID-19 vaccine of Biological
healthcare services across doses will be manufactured and E is currently undergoing
the country, the launch of a stockpiled by Biological E from Phase-3 clinical trials after
converged scheme will lead showing promising results in
to the effective utilisation Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. The
of resources for providing vaccine being developed by the
quality healthcare services. company is an RBD protein sub-
unit vaccine and is likely to be
available in the next few months.
The proposal of Biological E was
examined and recommended
for approval after due diligence
by the National Expert Group
on Vaccine Administration for
COVID-19 (NEGVAC).

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com SPONSORED CONTENT 13

Oligonucleotide purifications:
optimization and scale up

« Purity and yield
Selected 1-mL fractions were combined to assess the effect of
Dr. Ravi Rayanade* pooling on purity and yield. See Fig. 2 and Table 1.
Regional Dir. Bus. Dev., India No significant difference was seen for the two buffer systems used
« for this oligonucleotide batch. A purity of 95.6% with 74.2% yield was
obtained with the broadest pooling using Tris-buffer (Fig. 2B). Higher
Mr. Jan Berglöf purities could be obtained by a narrower pooling, as illustrated in
Co-Founder & Sr. Technical Advisor, Fig. 2B. WorkBeads 40Q gave both higher purity and increased yield
Bio-Works, Sweden AB, Uppsala, Sweden compared to Capto Q ImpRes (Table 1).

Introduction Resin Buffer Purity (%) Yield (%)
Solid-phase synthesis of oligonucleotides generally give material of
rather high purity. Peptide therapeutics requires purification to remove Crude 84.5 100
incomplete or erroneous sequences. Anion exchange chromatography
(AIEX) provides efficient purification giving high purity and yield in a WorkBeads 40Q 20 mM NaOH. pH 12 95.5 76.9
single step. Process optimization of the binding and elution conditions
is needed to meet required purity and yield prior to scale-up. We have WorkBeads 40Q 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8 95.6 74.2
investigated the correlation between purity and yield, transitioning from
low to high sample load. CaptoQ ImpRes 20 mM NaOH. pH 12 93.7 68.9

CaptoQ ImpRes 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8 94.4

Table 1. Yield and purity. Pools of seven 1 mL fractions compared.

Purification Scale-up
optimization When the process conditions giving required purity and yield
have been obtained, scale-up can be done. To investigate scale-up
The resolution conditions, sample load of 80 % of the resins DBC, i.e., 132 mg of the
of oligonucleotide oligonucleotide preparation was loaded to the column.
purifications on Fig. 3A shows a typical recovery shape of the full-length
WorkBeads™ 40Q oligonucleotide for a process purification run with a sample load
was compared for two corresponding to 80% of DBC. In the beginning of the elution gradient
different NaCl-buffers as the N-x species are eluted, and the full-length oligonucleotide starts to
outlined in Fig. 1 below. elute later in the gradient. The histogram in the chromatogram in Fig. 3B
Each individual fraction shows the purity in individual fractions. This demonstrates the separation
was analysed for yield of the full-length oligonucleotide.
and purity on a DNAPac
Fig. 1. Purification of oligonucleotides PA200 analytical IEX Fig. 3. (A) Eluted
on WorkBeads 40Q pH 12 (solid column (Thermo Fisher). oligonucleotide peak
blue), pH 8 (dotted green). The Capto™ Q ImpRes resin after loading crude
elution gradients are shown in red (Cytiva) was also used for oligonucleotide
with a dotted line 20-40% for, pH 8, comparison. corresponding to 80%
and solid line 20-50% for pH 12. of the DBC. Green
The dynamic binding line represents full-
capacity (DBC) was length yield measured
determined by frontal in each fraction and
analysis at 150 cm/h to 48 dotted black line
mg/mL resin by applying visualizes presence of
the crude oligonucleotide n-1 and n-x species.
preparation from the solid (B) Purity of full-length
support without further oligonucleotide
adjustment of the feed. (light blue bars) was
measured in individual
Fig 2. (A) Purity fractions. Pools of
(light blue bars) Yield collected fractions
(green bars) analyzed are visualized (as
over the main peak. horizontal bars) in the
(B) Purity & Yield chromatogram
for different fraction
pools (1 mL, 3 mL, Pool Purity (%) N-1 (%) Yield (%)
5 mL and 7 mL) of 82.2
the eluted main peak Pool 1 (55 mL) 94.5 2.1 69.9
obtained with 20 mM 54.3
Tris-HCl, pH 8. Pool 2 (45 mL) 95.2 1.8

Pool 3 (35 mL) 96.3 1.6

Table 2. Effect on yield & purity using different pooling.

Conclusions
Purification of a 20-mer oligonucleotide using WorkBeads 40Q
gave excellent purity with good yield in both NaOH- and Tris-based
buffers. Both purity and yield were higher on WorkBeads 40Q compared
to Capto Q ImpRes. The rigidity of WorkBeads 40Q allows for efficient
purifications of full-length oligonucleotides also at process scales.

* Corresponding author Dr. Ravi Rayanade l Email: [email protected] l Tel: +91-8605015036

14 COMPANY NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Biological E, Canadian firm to jointly manufacture mRNA vaccines in India

Canadian firm Providence Providence production, after
Therapeutics Holdings Inc. and accounting for the first sale
Hyderabad-based Biological E of Providence vaccines to the
have announced the execution Province of Manitoba, Canada.
of a term sheet that sets forth the Providence will provide the
material terms for a definitive necessary technology transfer
licensing and collaboration for Biological E to manufacture
agreement. It also outlines the mRNA vaccines in India, with a
terms for sale by Providence minimum production capacity of
of up to 30 million doses 600 million doses in 2022 and a
of Providence’s proprietary target capacity of 1 billion doses.
messenger RNA vaccine, PTX- Biological E will be responsible
COVID19-B, to Biological E and for all clinical development
other End-buyers. This represents and regulatory activities for the
the sale of all the remaining mRNA vaccine in India and
2021 Providence production, other jurisdictions licensed by
plus a portion of the early 2022 Biological E.

Dyadic teams BDR Pharma launches
affordable drug to treat
up with Syngene ovarian, prostate cancers

for COVID-19 Mumbai-based BDR Pharmaceutical has launched
BDPARIB (RUCAPARIB) to treat advanced ovarian and
vax development prostate cancers. BDPARIB is the first affordable generic
in India available in the form of a tablet, with the cost
US-based Dyadic International has entered of therapy less expensive than any existing drugs in the
into a collaboration with Bengaluru- market. The product is priced at Rs 54,000 (bottle of 60)
based Syngene International to develop for 300 mg dose &
a COVID-19 vaccine candidate that can Rs 45,000 (bottle
protect against the emerging variants of of 60) for 200 mg
concern and which can be manufactured dose. RUCAPARIB
affordably, at very large scale, using is an oral, small-
Dyadic’s proprietary C1-cell protein molecule inhibitor
production platform. Like the expanded of poly (ADP-ribose)
polymerase (PARP)
partnership 1, 2, and 3 used as a
previously monotherapy and in
announced with conjunction with other
Medytox, Inc., to anti-cancer agents
co-develop vaccines in several tumour
in the Republic of forms, including
Korea and multiple ovarian and prostate
Southeast Asian cancers. It has played
countries, Dyadic a significant role
will work with Syngene to develop a in treating ovarian
vaccine candidate to immunize people cancer patients with
against current and future variants of the BRCA mutation
COVID-19 virus. Syngene will initially (germline or somatic) associated with epithelial ovarian,
explore the development of a COVID-19 fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who have been
vaccine, and to further evaluate the treated with two or more chemotherapies.
potential of developing a differentiated
vaccine platform based on Dyadic’s
proprietary C1- cell line.

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com COMPANY NEWS 15

Zydus introduces Redcliffe Lifetech
new feature in drug
packaging to avoid brings Mucormycosis
counterfeiting
multiplex RT-PCR test
Zydus Cadila has introduced a new feature called
Zydus Verify in the packaging of its critical drugs to Noida-based Redcliffe Lifetech has introduced
help patients ensure that the product is not fake or a non-invasive (Serum/Fluid) RT-PCR Test
counterfeited. The company has incorporated a new to detect the DNA of mucorales species. As a
IT enabled scratch code which shall be printed under part of the diagnostic process, BAL samples
a scratchable surface. The patients can check to see if will be used to directly detect the infection,
the product purchased by them is genuine or not by with sample-to-result collection in less than 24
scratching the surface and verifying the code through hours. Redcliffe Lifetech through its innovative
molecular diagnostic service will collect various
the app or samples for conducting RT-PCR Test such as
the website. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples, Biopsy
This security samples, paraffin-embedded, serum samples to
feature detect the potential health disorder or diseases
developed in people. The diagnosis of Mucormycosis
by Hyperlink will target Pan-Mucormycetes, Rhizopus spp.,
Infosystem Mucor spp., Lichtheimis spp., Cunninghamella
enables spp., Rhizomucor spp., Internal Control (IC).
patients and The company is pricing the test at Rs 7,000.
institutions
to detect counterfeits. All that one needs to do is
scratch the code and immediately verify this on an app
or website, in no time. With increasing instances of
counterfeit products in the market it was necessary to
ensure that a 100 per cent genuine product of Zydus
is available to patients. To start with, the technology
is being implemented in the company’s products
Remdac (Remdesivir) and Virafin Inj (Pegylated
Interpheron Alpha 2b) and will be seen on the product
packs in the third week of June. The new feature will
also be extended to other products of the company.

Organon & Co opens women’s health company in India

Organon India has been launched the various markets. Organon’s across an international footprint
in India as a wholly-owned portfolio will consist of more that serves people in more than
subsidiary of Organon & Co, than 60 medicines and products 140 countries, with nearly 80
a global healthcare company per cent of its revenue generated
focused on meeting the healthcare outside the US. Organon is well
needs of women. The company positioned for organic low-to-
will focus its efforts on building mid-single digit growth from its
a healthier every day for every 2021 base of business. Organon
woman. In India, Organon will be in India and neighboring
operating in women’s healthcare, markets will firmly stand on its
fertility, dermatology, respiratory women’s health, fertility and
and bone health products in their established brands portfolio
portfolio. Organon India will be which will benefit from renewed
operating with its in-house sales management focus and enhanced
force and alliance partners across commercial activities.

16 FINANCE NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Manipal ADB issues highest-ever annual
Hospitals lending commitment to India
acquires
100% stake The Asian Development Bank relief to the poor and other
in Vikram (ADB) has committed $3.92 vulnerable groups. ADB also
Hospital billion in sovereign loans for approved financing to help the
13 projects to India in 2020, government improve equitable
Manipal Hospitals has entered including $1.8 billion in projects access to comprehensive primary
into a definitive agreement to support the Government of healthcare in urban areas. Going
with multiples, a private India’s COVID-19 pandemic forward, ADB stands ready to
equity firm, for a 100 per cent response. This is
acquisition of Bengaluru- ADB’s highest-ever provide additional resources to
based Vikram Hospital. The annual lending address India’s many COVID-
announcement comes close commitment to 19-related challenges, including
on the heels of its acquisition India since the funds to expedite the country’s
of the India operations of start of its lending ongoing vaccination programme
Columbia Asia Hospitals operations in and build the health system’s
in April 2021. Manipal 1986. ADB also resilience against future shocks.
Hospitals has been the top- committed $356.1
ranked healthcare provider million through
in Bengaluru for over two its non-sovereign
decades and this addition is a operations to India, including
reiteration of its commitment three COVID-19 support
to meet the healthcare needs projects. As part of its pandemic
of the city and the region. support to India, ADB provided
Two greenfield hospitals are emergency assistance to contain
currently under construction the disease and establish
and once they are completed in social protection measures for
the next 24 months, Manipal’s
network of 12 hospitals with Tata Digital invests up to
over 2,300 beds would be $75M in CureFit Healthcare
best placed to provide ease
of access and comprehensive Tata Digital, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tata Sons, has entered a
care to everyone across this Memorandum of Understanding for investing of up to $75 million in
city. Allegro Capital acted as CureFit Healthcare, subject to completion of diligence process and
financial advisors while PwC other approvals. CureFit Founder & CEO Mukesh Bansal will join Tata
served as financial and tax
diligence advisors and Trilegal Digital in an executive role
as legal advisors for Manipal as President, Tata Digital. In
Hospitals on this deal. addition, Bansal will continue
in his leadership role at
CureFit. CureFit is India’s
leading fitness player that has
developed a strong ecosystem
around fitness and wellness.
Indian fitness and wellness
market is growing at around
20 per cent per annum and
is expected to reach $12
billion by 2025. CureFit is uniquely positioned to capture a large share
leveraging its comprehensive solution and differentiated tech platform.
CureFit, with its range of fitness and wellness offerings, will help Tata
Digital expand into pro-active health management space.

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com START UP NEWS 17

Stride Ventures leads Rs 25 Indo-Irish
Cr debt round in MediBuddy biotech startup
CyGenica
Stride Ventures, one of India’s leading venture debt funds, has led a debt secures $1.4M
round of Rs 25 crore in Bengaluru-based startup MediBuddy that helps in seed fund
its users consult specialist doctors, order medicines and book lab tests
from the comfort of their homes. It is also a partner to several leading Indo-Irish biotech startup
corporate customers in the country and helps their employees access CyGenica has raised $1.4
million in a seed fund
multiple healthcare benefits. investment round, led
Stride’s continuing preference by global venture capital
for businesses with strong investor SOSV. The funding
fundamentals and scalability will round will accelerate the
see it become a strategic partner validation of CyGenica’s
in MediBuddy’s growth journey. proprietary technology
With a partner network of over which enables safe, targeted
90,000 doctors, 7000 hospitals, and affordable intercellular
3000 diagnostic centres and 2500 drug delivery. The current
pharmacies covering 95 per cent investment seed round
pin-codes in India, MediBuddy of $1.4 million was led by
has catered to the healthcare needs venture capital investor
of three crore Indians and attends to the needs of over 35,000 Indians SOSV. Other investors
daily across the length and breadth of the country. The digital healthcare participating in the round
platform will utilise the funding in further strengthening its technology, included the VOYAGER
operations and marketing to move a step closer to its mission of providing Health-Tech fund, David
high-quality healthcare to a billion people. Rowan, founder of Voyagers.
io and angel investors Sharaf
Telehealth platform Truemeds Yamani and Sami Mikati.
raises $5M in series A funding Pune-based CyGenica
intends to utilise the
Telehealth platform Truemeds closed its $5 million series A funding investment to accelerate
round led by InfoEdge Ventures, Asha Impact and Indian Angel Network the development of its
Fund (IAN Fund). Since its seed round in May 2020, the Mumbai-based disruptive drug delivery
startup has witnessed a 40X growth in monthly orders, with over 50 per technology for genome
cent of orders resulting from strong word editing, seeking to be a key
of mouth and organic discovery. Existing partner of biopharmaceutical
investor, InfoEdge Ventures, led the second companies in the
consecutive funding round in Truemeds. advancement of cutting-edge
The funding will be used to further expand therapeutics for cancer and
its footprint to three additional cities, rare diseases to improve
build product and technology and invest patient’s health and quality
in improving the supply chain of generic of life.
medicines. Having repeat usage of over 60 per
cent and a high annual purchase frequency
(8-10 times), Truemeds is building a
subscription-like service for chronic patients.
Truemeds is the first of its kind telehealth
platform in India focused on recommending
best value alternate brands to chronic patients. It provides free delivery
of the suggested alternate brands to the patient’s home. On average, each
Truemeds’ patient saves around 47 per cent on their monthly medicine
bills by using Truemeds’ proprietary recommendation engine and free
consultation from their empaneled doctors.

18 START UP NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Fitterfly unveils Post COVID recovery programme for diabetics

Mumbai-based digital health the comfort of their home via and webinars. The programme
startup Fitterfly has launched calls, chat, virtual group sessions has been designed by top doctors,
the Diabefly Digital Therapeutics nutritionists, physiotherapists
platform to include an integrated and psychologists.
‘Post COVID Recovery’ module Endocrinologists like Dr Sanjay
for the first few weeks of the Kalra- endocrinologist and ex-
programme, at no extra cost. President of Endocrine Society
The enhanced programme takes of India, and Dr Tejal Lathia-
care of diabetic people affected Senior Endocrinologist, Apollo
due to COVID - respiratory, Hospitals, Navi Mumbai have
musculoskeletal, nutritional and contributed as advisors to the
psychological. People can take structure and contents of the
advantage of the programme from programme.

Cell therapy startup Mylab launches
Eyestem gets funding
from Endiya partners India’s first self-use

Bengaluru-based Eyestem has raised funding from Endiya COVID-19 test
partners, one of India’s leading VC Funds in Technology,
Healthcare and Life-sciences. This funding will allow cPune based Mylab Discovery Solutions
Eyestem to move one step closer to scaling up its platform has announced that it has received ICMR’s
and creating affordable cell therapies which are essential approval for India’s first self-use Rapid
in democratizing access to a large section of humanity. test for COVID-19. The test is developed in
This investment will enable Eyestem to reach their goal India and is named as CoviSelf. The self-use
of becoming one of the first few companies in the world test can be used by symptomatic individuals
to develop a treatment for Dry Age-related Macular and immediate contacts of confirmed cases
Degeneration (Dry AMD), the leading cause of incurable as per the guidelines of the Indian Council
blindness affecting almost 170 million people – mostly of Medical Research (ICMR). Users of
above 50 years of age – across the globe. Founded by this test will not need sample collection
a highly experienced management team consisting of by a healthcare professional. This will
ophthalmology, cell therapy and clinical trial experts, ease pressure on already overburdened
Eyestem has created a platform for allogeneic, scalable cell testing labs and reduce delays in testing,
therapy. Eyecyte RPE, the company’s patented flagship which is more than 72 hours in some parts
product, is close to finding a treatment for Dry AMD of the country. Mylab is pricing this test
and the company has two more products in the pipeline at Rs 250 and it will be available in an
for similar incurable diseases affecting humanity. The affordable pack of one. The company will
company has received several prestigious awards and roll out 1 million self-test kits and based on
grants from the Department of Biotechnology. consumer demand, it will make 7 million
units available per week. The product
should be available in retail within 2-3 days.
The company plans to make the products
available on the Government e-marketplace
(GEM).

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com WHO NEWS 19

WHO releases WHO calls to
new guidelines for
mental healthcare redesign health

Globally, the majority of mental healthcare continues innovation ecosystem
to be provided in psychiatric hospitals, and human
rights abuses and coercive practices remain all too The WHO Council on the Economics of Health
common. But providing community-based mental for All, which comprises leading economists and
healthcare that is both respectful of human rights and health experts from across the globe, has called
focused on recovery is proving successful and cost- on governments, the scientific and medical
effective, according to new guidance released by the community and private sector leaders to redesign
the health innovation ecosystem toward delivering
World Health health technologies for the common good. In the
Organisation. Council’s first brief, its members called on the
Mental public and private sectors to work collaboratively
healthcare to deliver needed vaccines, therapeutics,
recommended diagnostics, and other essential health supplies
in the new that are available equitably to those who can
guidance benefit. The Council Brief recommends both
should be immediate and long-term action, urging all
located in the stakeholders to work towards creating a health
community innovation ecosystem characterised by purpose-
and should driven and symbiotic public-private partnerships
not only encompass mental healthcare but also that put the common good front and center.
support for day-to-day living, such as facilitating
access to accommodation and links with education
and employment services. WHO’s new “Guidance on
community mental health services: promoting person-
centred and rights-based approaches” further affirms
that mental healthcare must be grounded in a human
rights-based approach, as recommended by the WHO
Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2020-
2030 endorsed by the World Health Assembly in May
2021.

WHO launches global BioHub for pathogen analysis

The World Health Organisation materials for distribution to other global preparedness against
(WHO) and the Swiss laboratories, in order to inform these pathogens. The BioHub will
Confederation have signed a risk assessments, and sustain enable Member States to share
Memorandum of Understanding biological materials with and via
(MoU) to launch the first WHO the BioHub under pre-agreed
BioHub Facility as part of the conditions, including biosafety,
WHO BioHub System, which was biosecurity, and other applicable
announced in November 2020. regulations. This will ensure
This facility will enhance the timeliness and predictability
rapid sharing of viruses and other in response activities. WHO is
pathogens between laboratories currently running a pilot phase,
and partners globally. Based in using SARS-COV-2 and its
Spiez, Switzerland, the facility variants, to test the feasibility
will serve as a centre for the safe and operational arrangements for
receipt, sequencing, storage sharing such materials with the
and preparation of biological facilities of the BioHub System.

20 WORLD NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | JUNE 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

US airlifts ComBank supports
healthcare sector in Sri Lanka
COVID-19
More than 16 government hospitals Bank’s ongoing healthcare projects
supplies to and Medical Officers of Health under this programme include
(MOH) offices in Sri Lanka have the donation of office equipment
surges in received medical equipment and to the MOH office in Karachchi,
personal protective gear to date Kilinochchi; a Haemodialysis
Maldives, under an initiative implemented Machine to the Nephrology Unit
by the Commercial Bank of Ceylon of the District General Hospital in
Pakistan, and in response to the COVID-19 Monaragala; an electrocardiography
pandemic. The donations made by (ECG) machine to the Divisional
Sri Lanka the Bank’s CSR Trust to ensure the Hospital in Palaly and medical
safety of caregivers, enhance the equipment to the Base Hospital in
The US Government, quality of healthcare experienced Kayts. Besides these donations to
through the US Agency for by patients, and help curb the enhance medical services offered in
International Development spread of the virus include Personal the country during the pandemic,
(USAID), has airlifted Protection Equipment (PPE) kits, Commercial Bank donated Rs 10
emergency medical KN95 face masks, surgical masks, million to the National COVID-19
supplies to Maldives, hand sanitizers, Slit lamps, pulse Healthcare and Social Security
Pakistan, and Sri Lanka oximeters, multipara monitors Fund set up by the government of
to help save lives, stop and oxygen concentrators. The Sri Lanka last year.
the spread of COVID-19,
and continue to meet the Sweden provides additional grant for
urgent health needs across COVID-19 response in Bangladesh
South Asia. In Maldives,
this emergency assistance The Government of Sweden has committed an additional grant of 6 million
delivery includes 600 pulse Swedish Krona (SEK) to support United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)’s
oximeters and 292,000 COVID-19 response in Bangladesh. This new contribution takes the total
vital pieces of personal Swedish contribution to UNFPA to 127 million SEK during 2017-2022.
protective equipment The new grant will support UNFPA’s efforts to strengthen the quality and
to support frontline availability of sexual and reproductive health services in Bangladesh during
healthcare workers and COVID-19. UNFPA is the world’s largest multilateral source of funding for
people most affected by population and reproductive health programs. The new grant will be used
the current outbreak. In to continue and expand the COVID-19 response efforts UNFPA has carried
Pakistan, it includes 1,200 out earlier during the pandemic with Sweden’s support. For example, a
pulse oximeters, and hundred additional roving midwives will be deployed to health facilities
340,000 pieces of personal around the country to ensure the availability of maternal and newborn health
protective equipment for services in vulnerable communities. The availability of remote reproductive,
healthcare professionals. In maternal, newborn and child health services will also be improved through
Sri Lanka, this assistance the establishment of new telemedicine and emergency hotline services.
includes 880,000 vital Furthermore, the grant will be used to strengthen existing referral systems for
pieces of personal pregnant mothers and to establish infection prevention and control, as well as
protective equipment and triaging systems in separate maternity areas of health facilities.
1,200 pulse oximeters
to support frontline
healthcare workers and
others most affected by the
current outbreak.

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com WORLD NEWS 21

RDIF, UNICEF ink Sputnik V vaccine supply agreement

Human Vaccine LLC, a wholly UNICEF for Sputnik V vaccine
will broaden access to help
owned subsidiary of the Russian meet vaccine demand around
the world. Procurement and
Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, delivery of the vaccine by
UNICEF is subject to the vaccine
Russia’s sovereign wealth fund) receiving WHO Emergency Use
Listing. RDIF will be holding a
has announced the signing of separate discussion with Gavi,
the Vaccine Alliance to see the
an agreement for the supply of Sputnik V vaccine considered
for inclusion in the COVAX
220 million doses of two-dose Facility’s Portfolio of COVID-19
vaccines.
Sputnik V Russian COVID-19

vaccine with the United Nations

International Children’s

Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

This amount is sufficient to

vaccinate 110 million people.

The supply agreement with

US to donate 500M CEPI selects
Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccine doses to LMIC experts for Scientific

Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE have announced plans Advisory Committee
to provide the US government at a not-for-profit
price 500 million doses of the companies’ COVID-19 Norway based Coalition for Epidemic
vaccine, 200 million doses in 2021 and 300 million Preparedness Innovations, or CEPI, has
doses in the first half of 2022, to further support the announced the new and returning members
multilateral efforts to address the surge of infection selected to join its Scientific Advisory Committee
in many parts of the world and to help end the for the next three-year period. Comprising of 34
expert individuals from a broad range of key
pandemic. The disciplines—including epidemiology, vaccine
government development, vaccine manufacturing, public
will, in turn, health and regulatory sciences—the group will
donate work as an independent body to provide world-
the Pfizer- class scientific input and recommendations
BioNTech to guide CEPI staff and the CEPI Board in
vaccine doses to responding to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
low- and lower They will also deliver guidance and challenge
middle-income towards CEPI’s $3.5 billion plan, announced in
countries March 2021, to mitigate or even dramatically
(LMIC) and reduce the threat of future pandemics and
organizations epidemics. The 2021-2024 CEPI Scientific
that support them. As a part of the plan, the United Advisory Committee includes new members,
States will allocate the vaccine doses to 92 low- and as well as existing members who have served
lower middle-income countries and economies on the committee since its launch in 2018 and
as defined by Gavi’s COVAX Advance Market will run an additional two-year term. Additional
Commitment (AMC) and the 55 member states of the members may join in the coming months.
African Union. The US government and the companies
will work with COVAX to ensure these vaccines are
delivered to the specified countries around the world
in a way that is most efficient and equitable. These
doses are part of Pfizer and BioNTech’s previously
announced pledge to provide two billion doses of the
COVID-19 vaccine to LMIC over the next 18 months.

22 COVER STORY BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

LAB AUTOMATION

TRAVAILS
IN INDIA

Whether it is the industry or
academia, life sciences workers

are gradually accepting the
fact that lab data digitisation
improves processes, simplifies
workflows and makes research
and development (R&D) more

efficient. With increasing
advances in machine learning
(ML) and artificial intelligence
(AI), digitisation in the research
environment is set to become

an integral part of every
laboratory worldwide. But in
emerging markets such as India,
there are a large number of
factors responsible for its slow
adoption such as lack of skilled
workforce, high maintenance

and service costs, limited
expertise, data security etc.

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com COVER STORY 23

The process of turning analog information into lab data digitisation improves processes, simplifies
a digital format has taken over many aspects of workflows and makes research and development
our lives whether in the form of bank statements (R&D) more efficient. With increasing advances in
or medical records. Similar is the case with science. All machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence
over the world, researchers are swapping their pens, (AI), digitisation in the research environment is set to
notebooks, and sticky notes for digital technologies become an integral part of every laboratory.
such as Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELNs), Scientific
Data Management Systems (SDMSs), Laboratory The global lab automation market was valued at
Information Management Systems (LIMS), and $4.57 billion in 2020 and it is expected to reach a value
Manufacturing Execution System (MES) etc. of $6.67 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 6.6 per cent.
Particularly with the recent outbreak of the COVID-19
Whether it is the industry or academia, life pandemic, there has been an increased pressure on
sciences workers are gradually accepting the fact that the laboratories to increase testing labs’ capacity and

24 COVER STORY BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

“All the labs cannot be subjected to automation, speed. With the increase in the number of samples
especially the labs which involve the use of being tested every day, the lab automation space has
chemicals and biological reactions. The primary been witnessing a growth in the developments of
limitations for automation are space, funding, digitised systems by vendors, which is expected to
skilled persons and regular maintenance.” create opportunities for the market’s growth.
- DR T. JAGAN MOHAN RAO
Head, Department of Biotechnology, Moreover, laboratories often face pressure to
National Institute of Technology (NIT), produce faster turnaround time, while also reducing
Andhra Pradesh errors to enhance patient care and therefore are
using automation and robotics pervasive in clinical
“While the initial cost and maintenance are laboratories. The high-end automation in instruments
limiting factors, they must be balanced against and modular systems offers an array of features that
increased productivity, precision and accuracy. are extremely user-friendly. Most of these instruments
Automation takes human errors out of the can be integrated with IT to maximise the benefits
equation, a critical need in the life sciences. of laboratory automation, which offer mechanised
Partnerships with suppliers can help mitigate solutions in each phase of workflow in a lab.
costs and enhance functionality.”
- DR R. NAGARAJAN Thus based on the end user, the concept of lab
Professor & Head, automation is likely to penetrate effectively across
Department of Chemical Engineering, a range of industries in the coming years, such as
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies,
hospitals and diagnostic laboratories, research
and academic institutes, forensic laboratories,
environmental testing laboratories, food & beverage
industry, to name a few.

“We foresee growth in automated room disinfection
technologies due to their key advantages over manual
disinfection such as even and consistent distribution
of disinfectant across all exposed surfaces; process
repeatability with validated high level sporicidal
efficacy; less facility downtime and reduced labour
requirements, freeing up operators to work on other
tasks. However, unlike manual cleaning there is an
upfront investment for capital equipment to perform
automated room disinfection, and time is needed,
albeit brief, for installation and commissioning of
integrated equipment”, says John Chewins, Senior
Regulatory Affairs Manager, Bioquell, UK.

Lab Automation Market Dynamics

The total lab automation space is spread across a
number of equipment and software such as laboratory
information management system, chromatography
data system, electronic lab notebook, scientific data
management system, to name a few. Out of these,
laboratory information management system (LIMS) is
expected to hold the largest market share in the years
to come.

The software is not only used to manage and
aggregate data from samples and automate workflows,
it also helps in tracking the lots and reagents which
helps in predetermining and understanding the
required lab agents and resources. LIMS additionally
offers various benefits such as integration with other
in-lab systems, enabling smooth functioning and
gathering data at a single place.

In clinical research applications, LIMS offers

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com COVER STORY 25

Deploy LIMS to fast-track the healthcare system

» centers are getting overwhelmed with the number
of samples collected daily, delays in releasing test
Amit Chopra, reports can pose immense threat in the delivery of
timely healthcare assistance to the patients.
Managing Director,
Laboratory Information Management System
India and South (LIMS) with established connectivity across
instruments and systems is the need of the hour.
Asia, Thermo Fisher Instrument connectivity is often the most time
consuming and technically challenging component
Scientific, Mumbai of a laboratory setup or for LIMS implementation.
For laboratories on the front line of the COVID-19
shares his views on the fight, LIMS have proved to be instrumental. Whether
running a diagnostic laboratory, an academic research
need for streamlined focused on developing a vaccine or treatment for
COVID-19, or a laboratory supporting the vaccine
and reliable laboratory manufacturing process, an end-to-end solution can
significantly improve lab speed, quality & productivity.
information
Laboratories equipped with LIMS have constantly
management system. performed the diagnostics quicker with reducing
turnaround times and significant impact on reducing
The alarming gallop of COVID-19 cases is the quarantine period of suspected patients as well as
disrupting healthcare systems like never before. facilitating proper treatment for COVID-19 positive
Governments and organisations globally patients.
are scaling up COVID-19 testing to ensure people
infected with the virus are traced and treated. The Streamlined vaccination cycles are also a big
country is experiencing a spike in demand for medical contributor in the increased adoption of cloud-based
attention while encountering workforce challenges and LIMS among healthcare institutions. Large volumes
error-prone healthcare machinery. Unprecedented of data generated due to the rise in patient cases
supply challenges, low testing turnaround time, lack have increased workflow management complexities,
of laboratory integration, manual collection and particularly compliances that LIMS can help
processing of patient data are some of the biggest simplify. As healthcare institutions are ramping
hurdles that the industry is facing today. capabilities to test and vaccinate its population, LIMS
deployment can meaningfully reduce the processing
For nationwide testing success, the urgency to and manpower, reducing risks and fast-tracking the
implement reliable and scalable testing workflows healthcare system.
is clear. Software used to manage the workflow, as
well as to drive data integrity by enabling automated
transfer is critical to success. Challenges arise when
the system used to request the test is not connected
to the laboratory, and manual data transfer at any
point causes delays and potential errors. As testing

flexibility in the configuration of applications since system is not possible overnight”, points out Peter
clinical labs are often tasked with meeting specific Fruhstorfer, Co-Chief Executive Officer & Chief
regulatory requirements. On the whole, the inclusion Business Officer, Eppendorf Group, Germany.
of robotics and automation is becoming a major
factor aiding the transformation of the clinical Besides skilled workforce, expensive production
research industry. Subsequently, the application of lab costs can also inhibit the growth of the lab automation
automation is now spanning across many segments market. Although there is an increasing demand for
such as drug discovery, diagnostics, genomics, lab automation in emerging markets such as India,
proteomics, microbiology etc. there are a number of factors responsible for its slow
adoption across the industry and academia.
“The lab of the future will be digital, with
varying degrees of automation and smart solutions, India witnessing slow growth
empowering the user in the lab to focus on the
essentials, i.e. science. However, a challenge related By geography, the Asia Pacific region is expected to
to automation enabling devices is that these products see faster growth in the lab automation space in the
are highly specified in their set-up and need highly coming years, owing to the presence of developing
specialised colleagues to build and develop them. nations such as India, South Korea, Australia and
Both cater to the fact that building such an automated China among others. But this growth is attributed
to the availability of skilled workforce required in

26 COVER STORY BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

LEADING PRODUCTS OF »
LAB AUTOMATION MARKET
Thomas John,
● Automated liquid handling systems
● Pipetting Systems Managing Director,
● Reagent Dispensers
● Microplate readers & washers Agappe Diagnostics,
● Softwares
● Automated ELISA Systems Ernakulam talks
● Automated Nucleic Acid Purification Systems
● Robotic Systems about how automated
● Automation Equipment
instruments are building
LEADING SUPPLIERS IN
LAB AUTOMATION SPACE the future for diagnostics.

● Tecan Group (Switzerland) Partnerships to
● PerkinElmer (US) bring in “Made in
● Thermo Fisher Scientific (US)
● Agilent Technologies (US) India’ solutions
● Danaher Corporation (US) for automated
● QIAGEN N.V. (Germany)
● Siemens Healthineers (Germany) instruments
● Eppendorf AG (Germany)
● bioMérieux (France) In a world where time plays an important aspect
● Abbott (US) in almost every procedure, the technologies
● Becton, Dickinson and Company (US) have been directed to make this factor minimal.
● Promega Corporation (US) Automation plays a vital role in bringing down
● Hudson Robotics (US) procedural errors and helps in providing the optimum
● Hamilton Company (US) output by utilising the required time. In the ongoing
● Bio-Rad Laboratories (US) fast paced world, we are adjusted to automation and
● Aurora Biomed (Canada) are slowly switching our perception to this form of
● Endress+Hauser Group (Switzerland) lifestyle knowingly or unknowingly. As the current
● Waters Corporation (US) trend suggests, automations is ever present in almost
● AB Control (US) everywhere, be it in our homes, in our vehicles, our
● Synchron Lab Automation (The Netherlands) mobile phones, our workplaces. Automation proved
to be an important turn around point for the In-Vitro
the field of lab automation and improving economic Diagnostic (IVD) industry as it greatly improves the
conditions in this region. number of tests. This has undoubtedly made life
easier.
Over the years, big pharmaceutical companies in
India have been investing more than 8 per cent of their Automated instruments have been present and it
annual revenue in R&D to meet the growing demands has since grabbed a very prominent position in almost
of the life sciences sector. Hence they are likely to
invest in lab automation in the future. While on the digital solutions being offered to them to ease out their
other side, many medium and small sized laboratories daily research work. Part of the reason the scientists so
find it difficult to opt for automation. The high often lack trust is they also often lack expertise.
maintenance & service costs associated with laboratory
informatics solutions end up forming a major restraint. “All the labs cannot be subjected to automation,
For example, the maintenance cost of IT solutions is especially the labs which involve the use of chemicals
often more than the actual price of the software. and biological reactions. The primary limitations
for automation are space, funding, skilled persons
Another factor responsible for the slow adoption and regular maintenance. In addition to the above,
of lab automation is the conventional mindset of troubleshooting and understanding the new technology
many scientists across the academia sector. As a result can be a great challenge to the Indian scientists as
of which, scientists often find it difficult to trust the they are used to working with manual systems. Power
fluctuations and system failure are other risk factors

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com COVER STORY 27

any laboratory. The change of the mindset of the “A challenge related to automation enabling
masses to a proactive approach towards healthcare has devices is that these products are highly specified
increased the footfall in the Diagnostic labs. To keep
up with this new trend that surely grows year on year, in their set-up and need highly specialised
laboratories tries to accommodate quicker solutions. colleagues to build and develop them. Both caters
The advantage of a semi-automated system is limited
to the skill of the technician and it goes without saying to the fact that building such an automated
that not all are alike in productivity. The burden of system is not possible overnight.”
proper and accurate and reliable results lies with the - PETER FRUHSTORFER
lab technician and this burden can be mitigated with Co-Chief Executive Officer &
the help of a solid automated analyser. Nevertheless,
the COVID-19 scenario has witnessed a sudden spike Chief Business Officer, Eppendorf Group, Germany
in the lab tests, which was manageable only with the
automated instruments.

The automated analyzers have improved a lot since
its inception with Robot Chemist in 1959, a discrete
analyzer in Clinical Chemistry which had the capability
to give a digital print out. This laid the foundation
for generations of Analyzers that followed and made
their presence felt in various segments like Clinical
Chemistry, Hematology, Immunology, Coagulations
and Pre-analytics. Bringing down time and improving
accuracy and reliability for the results it produced.
These instruments, in a way, increase the confidence
of the technicians about the results and help in the
proper analysis of the problem at hand.

As with the improvements of the systems in the
frontier of technology, automated instruments are now
compact, economical, and fast with a high reliability
quotient. The scenario has greatly advanced that
automated instruments have found its way in the small
and medium sized labs, a trend that is the need of the
hour. Indian IVD manufacturers have the possibility to
make this into a reality. Industry-Industry partnership
and Industry-Academia partnership along with
investment in infrastructure and technology will be set
to mobilise these changes to bring in “Made in India’
solutions for automated instruments, that is tailor-
made for the Indian and other developing countries.
A bold movement that will have a wider implication to
the laboratory fraternity across the globe.

involved in automation. Thus, while establishing the “We foresee growth in automated room
labs, a scientist must take care of instruments which disinfection technologies due to their key
can run manually under emergency conditions. All the advantages over manual disinfection. However,
automated instruments available in the market may unlike manual cleaning there is an upfront
not fit the requirements of our scientists in terms and investment for capital equipment to perform
size of sample measurements”, says Dr T. Jagan Mohan automated room disinfection, and time is needed,
Rao, Head, Department of Biotechnology, National albeit brief, for installation and commissioning of
Institute of Technology (NIT), Andhra Pradesh.
integrated equipment.”
Now is it realistic for every scientist to hire an - JOHN CHEWINS
expert every time he/she invests in a new tool or
implements a new process? Probably not. This is Senior Regulatory Affairs Manager, Bioquell, UK
where the scientists can share their concerns with

28 COVER STORY BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

India is well placed to innovate on existing open-source opportunities

» skills powerful data analysis pipelines can be created.
Inexpensive controllers such as Raspberry Pi or
Richard Fitzpatrick, Arduino allow for equipment to run independently,
link and manage data, and allow experiments to run
bioinformatician & curriculum remotely and semi-autonomously. These are not fancy
or high-tech solutions, but a synthesis of existing open
developer, University of source and low-cost products. More advanced, but no
more complex, options include the Opentrons modular
Edinburgh, UK, currently robotics suite, which when paired with technologies
such as OpenWorkstation, offers a bespoke and
working in collaboration with flexible automated lab for less than $7000.

the Gujarat Biotechnology Investigating and testing these takes some time.
But once done, the savings in time, labour, and
University, Gandhinagar, material wastage all result in more efficient labs that
can produce high quality, precise, and reliable data
stresses on open-source faster. The costs are also much more manageable,
being a one-time expense rather than a subscription-
tools and technologies for lab based service cost. Automation can be driven by
the bespoke needs of a laboratory, and through
automation. collaborations and customisation be scaled to keep
pace with global competitors.
Automation in the lab is a hot topic in the life
science sector. Conventional thinking points Where to start? The threshold to adopt
to two options: either spend large sums on automation may appear high, but if employees have
proprietary equipment or subscription model software already been trained in and applied it to real-life
which usually offer more options than are really laboratory challenges during their training, adoption
required, or wait for equipment and automation to is much easier. Research and technology-driven
become affordable, which may take decades. higher education institutions seeking research
collaborations with industry are spaces where
A third way is possible: Using open-source such innovation can be developed and put to both
resources to do it yourself. The challenge to any academic and commercial use. Importantly, they
scientist or lab with a restricted budget is not one of train your future employees in application and
being unable to automate, but a lack of awareness optimisation of automation for solutions to your
of how simple some of these automation pipelines challenges. India is well placed to nurture these
can be to implement. It has been estimated that collaborations and innovate on existing open-source
up to 89 per cent of recent published life science opportunities.
investigations have at least one method that can be
automated. Many of these do not need the purchase
of proprietary software and equipment.

When time is spent in exploring open-source
options, labs often find how quickly their daily
routine could be accelerated through open-source
software. Through learning of simple programming

the vendors and demand hands-on expertise before Professor & Head, Department of Chemical
investing in a digital solution. Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT),
Madras.
In addition, research institutes across India can
help the scientific community by establishing centres Thus digitisation is not only transforming the
of excellence (COEs), in collaboration with the industry and academia, it is also changing the people
industry, for encouraging and simplifying the adoption within it. Data scientists, engineers, and experts in
of new technology. AI and ML are now in high demand. Even those
working within clinical roles must now have a working
“Increased automation is inevitable in labs, as it knowledge of the scope and purpose of key digital tools.
is in manufacturing, indeed in all walks of life. While
the initial cost and maintenance are limiting factors, This calls for the establishment of skilled courses
they must be balanced against increased productivity, for people who are looking to pursue or grow their
precision and accuracy. Automation takes human career in R&D. They must be literate in the latest
errors out of the equation, a critical need in the life technology and prepared to commit to lifelong
sciences. Partnerships with suppliers of computer learning to keep pace with change.
hardware and software can help mitigate costs and
enhance functionality”, points out Dr R. Nagarajan, Dr Manbeena Chawla
[email protected]

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com SPEAKING WITH 29

‘‘We see growing interest of healthcare

testing labs, Pharmaceutical QC and

R&D labs in implementing next-gen

lab automation solutions’’
US-based Abbott Informatics, formerly known
as STARLIMS, is one of the companies with «
a long and established presence in the space
of lab automation. Taking pride in offering the world Pradeep Nagisetty,
class technological solutions, the company has Regional Sales
recently announced the launch of STARLIMS Quality Manager -
Manufacturing Solution QM12.2 which is built on the India & Sub Continent,
latest STARLIMS Technology V12 platform, along Abbott Informatics -
with STARLIMS SDMS (Scientific Data Management STARLIMS, Hyderabad
System) V12.2. To find out more about the company’s

automated offerings in India, BioSpectrum spoke to

Pradeep Nagisetty, Regional Sales Manager - India

& Sub Continent, Abbott Informatics - STARLIMS, equipment integration, raw data and process data

Hyderabad. capturing, data storage in folders, search and

reporting, long term data storage and archival,

assuring highest data integrity in the regulatory labs.

Can you tell us about the major product For the first time, we launched LES – Lab
releases of STARLIMS since 2020? Execution System product. With our LES, our

It’s the result of regular collaborations with our customers can ensure Standard Operating Procedures

fantastic customer base, allowing us to hear from (SOPs) are being followed and tasks are being

those that will benefit the most from this. We developed in a compliant and controlled manner for

then take into consideration the overall market regulated labs. This is a fully touch enabled interface

trends to enable our R&D and product teams to system that works seamlessly on smart devices and is

incorporated this feedback into new product releases, fully mobile enabled in the labs.

technology upgrades, critical bug fixes, data integrity We have a very strong roadmap in place and

improvement, performance improvements and will bring more advanced products and tools to the

cyber security enhancements. Our commitment to market continually.

continual releases and improvements provides our

customers with a LIMS solution that will remain What are the major challenges for companies

relevant. in life science sector in India?
Since 2020, we have already released two
For companies in this sector, challenges include the

minor versions of STARLIMS QM solution for the need to digitize and make legacy data accessible and

pharmaceutical and other manufacturing industries. searchable so that drug development workflows that

We offer an Automated Validation Framework and were generated and undertaken decades ago are still

Testing Kit that reduce the time, cost, resources and relevant going forwards, and on the other hand to

complexity over the manual testing methods. With incorporate the latest high-throughput technologies,
STARLIMS QM V12.2 released in April 2021, we have such as next-generation sequencing, and other high–

brought new integration capabilities – SAP4/HANA throughput and high content workflows, into the drug

Integration, interface with Biovia Draw and Biovia development and testing processes.

Direct for chemical structures, Thermo Chromeleon There are a few other challenges such as pandemic

7.3 CDS interface upgrade, Waters Empower 3 FR5 uncertainty in prioritization of CAPEX, resource and

CDS interface upgrade. time investments by customers; travel and other

This year we have the new SDMS product – administrative challenges in sales, implementation

Scientific Data Management System. A standalone and support services; data accessibility and

SDMS software that helps with automatic lab unavailability of required internet bandwidth

30 SPEAKING WITH BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

connectivity; shortage of human resources who have Is adoption of lab automation more popular in
best of the breed skill set.
the industry or academia?
Addressing these challenges with our customers
across the life science is what sets Abbott Informatics Unlike North America & Europe markets, India is a
apart.STARLIMS has been developed to adapt to the more industry and commercial labs driven market
particular challenges of the life science industry, from over the academic markets. This is mainly due to
pharma manufacturing QC to outsourced testing, the fact that affordability, level of IT & automation
and R&D, which has to manage data from laboratory adoption in academic labs is very low. And we have
testing across the four pillars of a product life cycle; observed less collaborations between industry &
research and preclinical, clinical, manufacturing and academia. However, there is an increased interest
post-market surveillance, in the global context of that and need for the pharma, food & beverages,
product’s development. specialty chemicals & other manufacturing R&D
labs for adoption of lab automation solutions in the
How do you foresee the long-term adoption Indian market. This is mostly due to the increased
investments in innovation, new product development
of lab automation in the life science sector in initiatives & opportunities. Indian companies are
competing with global products, & several FDI in
India? India are opening up the new possibilities to invest
in R&D. With STARLIMS, Abbott Informatics is fully
It is extremely demanding and we see steady growth prepared to deliver the R&D specialty lab automation
and YoY opportunities in life science, biotech, solutions with our ELN, LES and other relevant tools.
commercial contract testing labs, specialty chemicals
and other key manufacturing industries. There How can we enhance the adoption of lab
are several growth opportunities in store such as
several domestic and Foreign Direct Investments, automation into the Indian healthcare system,
increased regulatory needs, business consolidation,
competitiveness among domestic and global players, at both private and public level?
demand for quality products.
Healthcare opens up new opportunities in India for
Overall increased awareness of the Digitalization lab automation tools & solutions considering the fast
and Industry 4.0 adoption in India will create the progressing healthcare facilities expansion to B and C
new opportunities in the next two to three years towns & rural parts of India. Prognosis & diagnostics
to come. There are other factors such as increased are important for the right treatment & clinical decision
global and domestic demand for vaccines, injectables, making capabilities for healthcare practitioners. Routine
generics markets that will continue to invest in testing, disease based testing, condition based testing,
scaling up their product lines and hence there is bedside treatment testing, pandemic testing, lifestyle
increased need for the lab automation and quality related testing, personal care testing etc. are opening
testing automation. up new opportunities for the private & public labs.
Rapid testing, affordability, providing quality results,
The STARLIMS concept was from the start accessibility of results from anywhere, patient data
focused on developing an agile informatics platform safety, home collections, analytics, smart device access
that would automate the QC lab testing workflow, etc. have become the new benchmarks in healthcare
to ensure the quality and efficacy of manufactured testing. Hence automation of lab processes right from
products. sample collection to report delivery has become the new
normal & we see a growing interest of small, medium
For one of Abbott Informatics’ pharmaceutical and large commercial testing labs & government labs
industry clients in the Asia-Pacific region, these implementing the next gen lab automation solutions.
insights have led to increased productivity and
efficiency. The customer implemented the On the other hand, the governments are fast
STARLIMS platform to manage its internal QC lab realizing the need for creating a safer, cleaner and
testing processes. Through the use of STARLIMS the better place to live and overall improve the quality of
customer was able to reengineer laboratory processes life-index for India. This requires government agencies
and was able to make 6 FTE savings, a significant and policy making organizations to test the various
achievement. More importantly, the lab was able samples from public health, water testing, pollution
to significantly increase capacity. So, through testing, soil testing, environmental testing, food testing
implementing STARLIMS as an automated LIMS and material testing to assure the quality of life. This
they were able to relocate resources in the lab and should also open up new opportunities for STARLIMS
streamline their manufacturing workflow. As a result, solutions in India in the years to come.
they were able to take on new drug manufacturing
streams and so increase productivity and profitability, Dr Manbeena Chawla
without having to increase their personnel. [email protected]

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com SPEAKING WITH 31

“Organisations need to adapt to

become more and more flexible”
Laboratories are encountering an increased
demand for molecular testing and need workflow «
solutions that allow greater automation and
higher throughput to keep up with the increasing
number of samples to be prepared for downstream

applications. Catering to these demands, US- Dr Rajnish Bharti,
based Promega Corp is offering instruments, General Manager,
chemistries and personalised support that simplify Promega Biotech India,
the process of automating sample prep in one’s lab. New Delhi
BioSpectrum spoke to Dr Rajnish Bharti, General

Manager, Promega Biotech India, New Delhi on
the future of digital R&D. Edited excerpts;

How do you plan to enhance digital interaction

With lab automation becoming a cornerstone with scientists? What are the challenges?

Promega is focusing on increasing customer

in the COVID-19 scenario, are you planning to interaction from the past few years. However, since the
launch more automated solutions for the life beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have totally
sciences industry? transformed ourselves into digital and each day we
are exploring new ways to increase digital interactions
A modular automated liquid handling and purification

system developed by Promega Corporation for its with customers. We are reaching out to customers at

Maxwell nucleic acid preparation offers labs newfound e-conferences through our virtual trade show booth.

flexibility compared to large all-in-one instruments. Currently we are also doing some upgrades in our
Our team of automation experts are available to help customer relationship management (CRM) system to

you design an optimized high-throughput solution that capture customer information in more efficient ways.

meets your laboratory’s needs. We have implemented Our CRM system is linked with flow of information

Maxwell HT (high-throughput) chemistries on a from the Promega website, social media accounts

variety of instrumentation platforms working with and webinar tools. This is helping us to reach the

a broad range of sample types. Promega recently scientific community and make them aware of the

launched its benchtop capillary electrophoresis latest updates. We have started a significant website

instrument, the Spectrum Compact CE system, upgrade project that delivers improved performance,

developed in collaboration with Hitachi High-Tech. increased personalisation, improved shopping and

transaction experience, and new ways to interact with

What are your views on the future role of our customers.
automation in biological research in India? The pace with which researchers adopted digital

Labs carrying out essential research and diagnostics formats for conferences, lectures and meetings

for COVID-19 quickly leveraged the power of revealed that currently available tools can substitute

automation to increase capacity. On the clinical lab many of the physical interactions in the workplace. It

side, we saw a tremendous need to scale up rapidly also showed that academics are willing to use digital

with automation solutions. Some labs who did not tools for scientific exchange. However, we are also

yet have automation wanted to immediately scale observing that digital interaction formats struggle

up to several liquid handling systems to process to reproduce in-person social interactions such as
thousands of samples per day where before they only informal discussions. They also raise new concerns

processed a hundred samples per day. Even if the on data security and can induce higher stress levels

automation is already in place, the question is how can due to the blurring of the boundaries between work

we better enable the remote design of experiments, and private spaces. We expect hybrid formats to

remote execution, and remote monitoring of what is emerge which combine digital and physical interaction

happening in the lab? Organisations need to adapt formats, and an increase in digital interactions

to become more and more flexible. We need to between geographically distant working groups.
Dr Manbeena Chawla
collaborate in a new way using digital tools, in and out

of the lab. [email protected]

32 DIGITALISATION BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Weighing up pros and
cons of Lab Digitalisation

« the installation, connection, and calibration of
centralised lab management software. While latest
Aditya Berlia, editions of equipment come with digital options as
standard, many older models are in perfect working
Co-Promoter, condition. Labs may not wish to suddenly incur
enormous capital costs and have to buy all new
Apeejay Stya & equipment to accomplish a high level of automation
and digitalisation from day one. Instead, many would
Svran Group, choose to do this incrementally.

New Delhi Further, there is a problem of vendor
incompatibility. Typically, labs work overtime with
Pharmaceutical labs across the world are facing three to four different vendors, each of which has a
pressure to go digital. The automation and particular strength in an equipment area. Getting all
digitalisation of pharmaceutical labs have the machines to work together despite the industry
gone hand in hand with newer machines that have moving to common standards is still a problem. This
tremendously improved productivity and the ability is especially true for high-speed systems that need to
to conduct complex analytics and experiments. As a stream a lot of data and have custom connectors and
result, almost all laboratories worldwide have started software to analyse the output.
digitalisation, and many have formed phased plans
to achieve complete digitalisation. If done well, the With complete live analytics suites that bring
benefits are immediately evident. data from several different sources, there is also
a very high risk that if a particular machine is out
Numerous pros of alignment or validation, the data keeps getting
consumed and only very later is it discovered that
The first benefit is higher productivity of staff. This is there was a problem. In a manual lab, a technician or
achieved by data generated from machines directly researcher would quickly see and identify the erring
entering virtual lab notebooks, eliminating manual machines and make corrections well before data is
and frequent checks and entries. It also allows consumed and used to make decisions.
supervisors and senior researchers to view and act
on the data remotely, thus allowing them to monitor Digital record-keeping can drastically reduce
multiple locations at once. the time spent on paperwork, and more advanced
systems can also run validation checks live on the
The second is the elimination of human error and data. However, labs need to invest in ensuring that
enablement of proper track and trace mechanisms their systems are auditable and compliant.
by design. Regulators and research funders are
also worried about fraudulent data being generated There is also a long term risk that a new
to support a product or research question. With generation of technicians and researchers only
a proper digital system in place, researchers and trained in digital methods will no longer be able
regulators can be confident that the data generated is to understand the work behind the machines
direct from the machine and has not been tampered substantially and this could lead to poor experimental
with or transformed in any manner. design, not understanding validation, and an inability
to troubleshoot problems.
The third benefit is being able to run complex and
live analysis bringing in data from multiple machines The last risk is security and confidentiality. As
and experiments. The newer machines can analyse we move towards a cloud-dominated world and
hundreds of samples in the same time it took older more interconnected systems, cyber-attacks will
machines to do one or two. increase on labs and lab equipment and the danger
of competitors and malicious actors getting hands-on
Challenges in implementation confidential company and personal data.

The digitalisation of labs, however, is not a panacea Digitalisation is the way forward for the majority
and many challenges remain. The major issue is of pharmaceutical labs. However, leaders need to
make sure they have accounted for all the challenges
and issues that the transition period will raise.

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com EDUCATION 33

Upscale healthcare
workforce with right training

With the advancements and breakthroughs in technologies, education is no longer limited to four
walls of a classroom. While we celebrate Doctor’s Day on July 1, we must look at the various
initiatives that have been undertaken by the government as well as private organisations to up-
skill, upscale and strengthen the healthcare workforce in the country which was much needed for
a very long time.

COVID-19 has reinforced the need for better lot of focus is on strengthening our systems to deal
overall healthcare infrastructure. There is not with the surge in cases- both for COVID and non-
only a shortage of healthcare facilities but also COVID. Challenges that we are currently facing of
the availability of doctors and skilled allied healthcare bed and oxygen shortage, non-availability of essential
workforce. The current healthcare infrastructure has drugs can be resolved with necessary interventions
done a commendable job when it comes to handling at central and state level but addressing skilling and
the second wave of COVID-19. manpower crisis amidst these tough times will greatly
help providers give better care.”
In a developing country like India, there is still
a significant lack of medical professionals and Skilled youth in healthcare
the doctor to patient ratio also is not reassuring
either. During this pandemic time, the healthcare Tata STRIVE and Wipro GE Healthcare have also
professionals have set themselves as a huge example collaborated to skill youth for jobs in the healthcare
of sacrifice among the nation and have undergone sector over a period of three years. The agreement
a great risk. The healthcare system of a country aims to skill 6,200 candidates in various technical
during the COVID-19 pandemic is a testament to its and operational areas of healthcare.
strength.
As part of this partnership, Wipro GE Healthcare
With the advancements and breakthroughs in will design, develop and implement industry-
technologies, education is no longer limited to four relevant, hands-on training with a goal of achieving
walls of a classroom. While we celebrate Doctor’s gainful employment for these students, many of
Day on July 1, we must look at the various initiatives whom belong to underprivileged sections of society.
that have been undertaken by the government as These collaborations are very crucial in the current
well as private organisations to up-skill, upscale and scenario.
strengthen the healthcare workforce in the country
which was much needed for a very long time. Shravan Subramanyam, Managing Director,
Wipro GE Healthcare, South Asia, Bengaluru says,
Recently NATHEALTH-Healthcare Federation “Building a strong pipeline of allied healthcare
of India signed a memorandum of understanding professionals can be a strategic intervention in the
(MoU) with The American College of Healthcare healthcare sector. This partnership focuses not only
Executives (ACHE). As per the agreement, both on employment but also focuses on bridging the skill
organisations will mutually strengthen healthcare
systems by developing and providing leadership “Given the size of our
education and development experiences that will population, it is necessary
help in preparing healthcare professionals to become
clinical leaders and improve patient care. The to keep increasing the
collaboration will bring in educational opportunities number of doctors, nurses
through in-person interactions, such as the Annual
Congress on Healthcare Leadership. and paramedics in the
health sector.”
Dr Harsh Mahajan, President, NATHEALTH, - Narendra Modi,
Gurugram comments, “The second wave of COVID-19
has been an eye opener for the medical fraternity. As Prime Minister, Government of India, New Delhi
we are preparing ourselves for a possible third wave
of the pandemic and its subtle shift to an endemic, a

34 EDUCATION BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Challenges that we are currently gap prevalent in the healthcare sector along with
facing of bed and oxygen upliftment of women in the society.”

shortage, non-availability of Govt’s initiative
essential drugs can be resolved
Assessing the current scenario and the strain on
with necessary interventions the healthcare infrastructure, Prime Minister (PM)
at central and state level Narendra Modi has recently launched ‘Customised
Crash Course’ programme for COVID-19 frontline
but addressing skilling and workers’. The programme will be conducted in 111
manpower crisis amidst these training centres spread over 26 states. About one lakh
frontline workers will be trained in this initiative.
tough times will greatly help
providers give better care.” Training will be imparted to COVID warriors in
- Dr Harsh Mahajan, six customised job roles namely Home Care Support,
President, NATHEALTH, Gurugram Basic Care Support, Advanced Care Support,
Emergency Care Support, Sample Collection Support,
“Building a strong pipeline and Medical Equipment Support. It will also include
of allied healthcare fresh skilling as well as upskilling of those who have
some training in this type of work. This campaign will
professionals can be a give fresh energy to the health sector frontline force
strategic intervention in the and will also provide job opportunities to our youth.

healthcare sector.” “Given the size of our population, it is necessary
- Shravan Subramanyam, to keep increasing the number of doctors, nurses and
paramedics in the health sector,” stated PM Modi in a
Managing Director, Wipro GE Healthcare, video conference during the launch.
South Asia, Bengaluru
The pandemic and the current state of healthcare
“We are using technology to infrastructure has created opportunities where
technology companies, specialists and content
train the healthcare workers creators are converging to create the infrastructure of
the future for up-scaling of healthcare workers. This
that doctors can rely on more isn’t going to be an easy task and there are several
challenges that the healthcare sector is currently
and more because we provide facing and will face in the future.

trained allied healthcare Challenges in bridging the shortfall

professionals.” - Nalin Saluja, Education and training are options that can help
overcome the shortage of skilled healthcare workers.
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer, Especially in COVID-19 wards, not all nurses are
trained for the job. In such cases, crash courses for
Virohan, Gurugram qualifying nurses to work in ICU wards will help curb
the shortage.
“Continuing medical education
(CME), learning new skills and in Dr KM Cherian, Chairman & CEO, Frontier
Lifeline Hospital, Tiruvallur asserts, “We need to
real time will not just enhance look at the education and learning opportunities
people skills but may well for aspiring professionals. The cost of education
is so high, that only few are able to afford it.
change health outcomes in The infrastructure at government institutions
certain cases.” teaching medicine, needs to be revamped. Also,
- Ashvini Danigond, documentation and preserving knowledge for future
Executive Director & CEO, generations is very important, so future students and
Manorama Infosolutions, Kolhapur professionals can learn from it.”

“It is imperative to make provisions in the annual
budget to address this issue by providing funds for
skilling in educational institutions- both private and
public. An association should be formed with skill
institutions to devise various programmes across all

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com EDUCATION 35

specialities to address the skill gap. These initiatives “An association should be
have to be conducted at district levels by every formed with skill institutions
state to ensure that everyone has access to quality to devise various programmes
healthcare,” concludes Dr Cherian. across all specialities to address

Digital Health, including healthcare informatics, the skill gap.”
has a profound impact on the quality of care and
efficiency of healthcare delivery. Consequently, there - Dr KM Cherian,
is substantial focus globally on enhancing Digital Chairman & CEO, Frontier Lifeline Hospital, Tiruvallur
Health and Informatics. In India too, the launch
of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) in skills but may well change health outcomes in certain
2020 is expected to drive Digital Health adoption at a cases. The acceleration of technology adoption of
national scale. augmented, virtual reality, artificial intelligence
(AI), blockchain and IoTs means that up-skilling of
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay healthcare workers will be driven out of innovative
has set up the ‘Koita Centre for Digital Health’ and new age companies.”
(KCDH) with a generous contribution received from
its alumni Rekha and Rizwan Koita, under the aegis She further adds, “The doctor to patient
of the Koita Foundation. KCDH will be conducting ratio is woefully low, just 0.7 per 1000 people.
industry / outreach programmes for healthcare and The inadequate access of healthcare is further
industry professionals in digital health and enable compounded by the fact that healthcare workers and
them to act as force-multipliers. Indian healthcare infrastructure are predominantly
located in the large cities and large towns.”
Founded in 2015, Virohan a tech-based company
uses technology to train allied healthcare workers The healthcare sector has sacrificed a lot to save
across the country, including lab technicians, the citizens of the country, yet there have been
operation theatre technicians etc. Using their edu- multiple incidents of violence against healthcare
tech model, the company is providing hundreds of providers. This action of violence, inculcates a sense
lab technicians, emergency medical lab technicians, of fear in people who want to pursue a career in this
operation theatre technicians in various districts of field. This could also be one of the factors that leads
India every month. to shortage of skilled healthcare workers. There is a
need for strict laws and policies for crime committed
Nalin Saluja, Co-Founder & Chief Technology against medical professionals.
Officer, Virohan, Gurugram is of the opinion that
there is a need for trustworthy and reliable healthcare There should be a provision in place for
in India and it is needed today but healthcare compensation and morale boosting. In spite of saving
infrastructure usually takes time to build. people’s lives, doctors and medical professionals such
as nurses and diagnosticians are not compensated
Saluja states, “We are using technology to train properly. Government should provide incentives to
the healthcare workers that doctors can rely on healthcare workers, especially to those who work in
more and more because we provide trained allied the COVID-19 wards to keep their morale high.
healthcare professionals that is how we are enabling
each doctor to attend to more patients. In the crisis Prabhat Prakash
facing our country today this is the fastest way of [email protected]
scaling up the availability of healthcare workers to
each Indian. Let’s just not put beds but that there is
a trained healthcare worker by each and every one of
them.”

The answer to creating a high scale workforce and
in the numbers needed may well reside with new flag
bearers. India is producing unicorns and successful
online education companies by dozens. Edu-tech
has arrived and it is the apt time to extend into the
healthcare domain. With online, on demand and high
speed access, upscaling of healthcare workers can be
done with just a tap.

Ashvini Danigond, Executive Director &
CEO, Manorama Infosolutions, Kolhapur, says,
“Continuing medical education (CME), learning new
skills and in real time will not just enhance people

36 CDM BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

7 Tech enablers of new age clinical data management

« own account (e.g., Login: CDM Robot) and post
corresponding queries. The same technology could be
Shrishaila Patil, applied to other simple CDM tasks. Virtual robots can
become an unlimited virtual CDM workforce.
Vice President,
4. Blockchain technology - Blockchain is a
Statistical chain of interconnected blocks (i.e., data). Each block
contains a time stamped and non-modifiable version
Programming, of data. Blockchain can help establish a chain of
digital trust between the patient, healthcare providers
Navitas Life Sciences and connected medical devices. Blockchain facilitates
secure, real-time sharing of information within a
(a TAKE Solutions trusted framework, preventing any misuse of medical
or patients’ personal data.
Enterprise), Bengaluru
5. Intelligent Clinical Data Management
Advances in technology coupled with Systems (CDMS) – In order to be future proof,
complexity in clinical trials and acceleration of CDM needs a source and technology-agnostic data
decentralised trials have necessitated the need collection, consolidation and management strategy.
to move from traditional clinical data management This demands a new generation of CDMS including
(CDM) practices into much more advanced clinical data platforms, workbenches, reporting framework
data science processes. etc. Intelligent CDMS must enable real-time, data-
driven and confident decision making from active data
We have seen clinical trial designs evolving from (data from Clinical Research) & passive data (data
time to time to adapt and increase effectiveness, for from medical care and personal health devices).
example: Adaptive trials, Virtual trials etc. CDM
processes have accordingly evolved from the last two 6. Maximising value of EDC – EDC still has
decades from paper based clinical data collection a critical role to play and its use must be maximised
systems to Electronic Data Capture (EDCs) and through a fit-for-purpose EDC Strategy while investing
many other changes. Now, we are seeing further in future-proof solutions. EDC were not designed to be
transformation required to support non-EDC centric a central study data repository & should not typically
approaches involving multiple data collection be viewed as the place to load all external data. We need
instruments, eSources, mobile technologies etc. to investigate future-proof integration and reporting
platforms that are compatible with current & future
Sensors and wearables generate high volumes of data streams, including Sensors and wearables. We
data (millions to trillions of times more than EDC) need to establish more flexible and efficient EDC build
at high velocity (i.e., generated continuously multiple processes to accommodate multiple study designs,
times per second). In this context, traditional CDM foster direct data capture, efficient post-production
processes would not be viable. eCRF changes etc.

Key technology enablers in new age Clinical 7. Managing Big Data - Data credibility,
Data Management: reliability plays an important role and thus focus
is on what matters (i.e., critical to quality factor),
1. Reduction of Electronic Data Capture risk-based data strategies, AI-driven automation of
(EDC) - centric approach and increased adoption issue detection and resolution and Fit-for-purpose
of eCOA (electronic clinical outcome assessments), solutions (scientifically plausible and strong enough
wearables, sensors and other eSource solutions. to support reliability of trial results). RESTful
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) will
2. Adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI)- provide interoperability between computer systems.
based solutions like CDM Chatbots (intelligent Virtual
assistants) in Clinical Data Management. Based on We could foresee a Clinical Data Management world
Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing built on a working model that includes virtual Clinical
(NLP), Voice recognition CDM chatbots can provide Data Managers working alongside Human Clinical
updates on study activities. Example: Ask a CDM Data Scientists. This has also resulted in greater
Chatbot to “provide the counts of sites with more than need for upskilling of Clinical Data Management
10 Serious Adverse events (SAE’s) reported on Study X”. professionals to deal with new technology and adapt
to new processes.
3. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – RPA
enables virtual robots to do predictable and repetitive
human activities. Example: Virtual Robot could be
fed with details of external data reconciliation errors.
The Virtual Robot could then login in EDC with its

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com STARUPS 37

Pandemic sets new benchmarks
for early-stage healthcare startups

The COVID-19 pandemic has been an enabler of this «
change as care-delivery models had to be quickly
revamped to address two concerns – the diseases Nritya Ganesh,
and the impacts of the virus on the treatment of Director Program
other diseases. We aim to assess the qualitative Management & India
and quantitative impact of COVID-19 and other Edison Accelerator
macroeconomic events on the startup ecosystem Program Leader, GE
over the last few years and try to understand the Healthcare, Bengaluru
implications for the future.

With an unprecedented crisis looming Azure have brought these costs down even further
around the world, the healthcare through pay-as-you-go leasing models, democratizing
industry finds new ways to tackle the access, and providing smaller players equivalent
ongoing problems. The COVID-19 pandemic technological resources as a large enterprise.
has placed unparalleled demands on modern
healthcare systems, but the industry’s response The COVID-19 pandemic has been an enabler of
has demonstrated its resilience and ability to bring this change as care-delivery models had to be quickly
healthcare innovations leveraging technology to revamped to address two concerns – the diseases and
market quickly. the impacts of the virus on the treatment of other
diseases.
This, however, is the culmination of years of
development in digital technologies coupled with the Thus, the emphasis has been on ensuring quicker
reducing price of storage and computational power turnaround times due to unmanageable caseloads
year-on-year which allowed users to process and and the need for remote consultations, both of
analyse large volumes of unstructured data, yielding which are well-served by digital technologies.
valuable insights. Business-model innovations by Startups such as Deeptek and Predible Health, for
cloud infrastructure providers, viz. Amazon Web instance, have helped with quickly pivoting their
Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft offerings towards analysing lung X-Ray and CT

38 STARUPS BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

reports to identify lesions associated with COVID-19 assess the qualitative and quantitative impact of
towards a quick preliminary diagnosis, reducing COVID -19 and other macroeconomic events on the
turnaround time from a day to a few hours, bringing startup ecosystem over the last few years and try to
patients under medical supervision without losing understand the implications for the future.
valuable time. Similarly, 5C Network has made
its teleradiology platform available to hospitals to Healthcare and Lifesciences
ensure faster turnaround and delivery of medical investments: A chronological view
care.
From 2018 to 2020, 366 startups have cleared
The effects of the pandemic are likely to be different funding rounds. Further, the year-wise
felt further down the line as well as we keep split (2018 to 2021) of companies receiving different
understanding the medium and long-term funding stages.
implications of the disease. For example, there is
early evidence available suggesting that effects of Source: Tracxn
the disease on the cardio-vascular system continue
to be felt in a few patients for at least a few months While the overall number of investment rounds
post-recovery, placing the spotlight on remote patient has taken a hit over the last year, it appears that
monitoring solutions as well as solutions ensuring 2021 is set to see a partial recovery, with overall
adherence to treatment protocol such as Wellthy numbers likely to surpass 2020 numbers. What is
Therapeutics’ offering. particularly noteworthy is that though the overall
funding scenario has seen a negative impact,
Similarly, unavoidable use of potent drug early-stage funding of companies that have
cocktails, especially antibiotics, in very critical typically seen some clinical validation of their
COVID cases could potentially result in the solutions has held strong and the trends suggest
rise of multidrug resistant (MDR) pathogens, that the number of early-stage companies that will
requiring Antimicrobial stewardship, such as see investment in 2021 is likely to go well beyond
AarogyaAI’s solution. What has been a consistent 2020 benchmarks.
observation is that the healthcare ecosystem is
being inexorably pushed towards treatment based A similar heartening trend is also seen in the
on a holistic approach, considering a 360-degree median ticket size per transaction where the numbers
view of a patient across care areas, which is the very have seen a slight increase year-on-year across
definition of precision healthcare. almost all investment stages.

Similarly, in the pharma and life sciences sector, Source: Tracxn
the ability to process large volumes of data as well
as the ability to monitor patients across care areas at
scale using technology has accelerated the process of
drug delivery through in silico trials.

In line with these observations, there has been a
rise of almost 80 per cent in consumption of digital
healthcare services during COVID-19. As we move
ahead, there will be growing needs for new innovative
complete healthcare solutions, in tackling challenges
as posed by the pandemic. The funding landscape
reflects this trend as well though investment
decisions in the last few quarters have been affected
by business pressures induced by the pandemic and
investors have been forced to carefully weigh the
increased risks associated with early-stage startups
in a period of large-scale economic strife against
the short- and long-term growth potential of digital
health services.

Trends in the investment

scenario: 2018 -2021

Given the above context, we look at trends in the
investment sector, specifically with respect to the
healthcare and lifesciences industries. We aim to

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com STARUPS 39

The total amount invested year-on-year in the
sector across all stages shows a similar picture of
a strong recovery, with the total amount invested
in the first four months of 2021 having crossed the
2020 benchmark comfortably and trending towards
reaching and likely surpassing 2019 numbers.

Source: Tracxn Bringing down the cost of drug discovery and
development also has the potential to transform the
Healthcare and Lifesciences investments: A way companies think about treatments for orphan
sectoral view and rare diseases which have traditionally not
received attention due to unfavourable economics,
At this point it would be interesting to take a sectoral driven mainly by expensive drug development.
view of the landscape and analyse where these
investments are being made and what is the size of Source: Tracxn
these investments. The data clearly shows that the
most significant activity has been seen in healthcare The road ahead
booking platforms which typically solve the dual
problems of last mile patient-doctor connectivity and The last ten years have been about changing the
last mile medicine delivery, followed by diagnostics way people work, the next ten years will be about
and fitness and wellness solutions. disrupting the status quo of businesses. Bringing
digital technologies into the healthcare sector
An analysis of the median investment size shows a places the sector in a position to finally be able to
slightly different facet of the same picture, with typical fulfil the three aims of Access, Affordability, and
transaction size in the Biotech R&D sector being Availability.
dramatically larger than the typical transaction size for
any other sector, in line with the kind of hardware and To be able to unleash the full power of these
software resources that are needed. The total amount solutions, the role of the traditional medical
of VC funding in AI-biotech start-ups also increased device company needs to change urgently from
in 2020 by around 23 per cent, compared to 2019, that of a creator to an orchestrator. With the lines
approaching a total of $1.9 billion, which is also more across industries increasingly getting blurred,
than in 2015, 2016, and 2017 combined. and with a greater number of solutions being
built by non-healthcare technologists rather than
Source: Tracxn clinicians or traditional medical device makers, it is
imperative that different stakeholders collaborate
to co-develop and market these solutions
after integrating them into traditional clinical
workflows.

40 PEOPLE NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Dr Sanjeev Galande steps in as Dean of School of Natural Sciences at SNU

Shiv Nadar University (SNU), Delhi- recipient of the International Senior
NCR has appointed cell biologist and Research Fellowship, Wellcome Trust,
epigeneticist Dr Sanjeev Galande as UK, 2005-10, DBT National Bioscience
Dean of the School of Natural Sciences. Award 2006, DST Swarnajayanti
Dr Galande joins the university Fellowship 2007, the coveted CSIR
from the Indian Institute of Science Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
Education & Research (IISER)-Pune, 2010, GD Birla Award for Scientific
where he served as Professor of Biology, Excellence 2015, and the SERB JC Bose
and Dean of Research & Development. Fellowship 2019. He has been a Fellow
Dr Galande brings with him over two of the Indian Academy of Sciences
decades of experience as a scientist since 2010, of the Indian National
and academic. He is credited for Science Academy since 2012, and of
having established a multidisciplinary the National Academy of Sciences since
programme engaged at the interface 2017. He was an honorary associate
of biochemistry, molecular biology, faculty at the University of Sydney,
bioinformatics, cell biology, proteomics, Australia, and a visiting faculty at the
and genomics. Dr Galande was the University of Turku, Finland.

Dr Vinay Nandicoori Syngene picks Sanjeev
Sukumaran as CHRO
takes charge as
Syngene International has appointed Sanjeev
CCMB Director Sukumaran as Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO)
with effect from June 1, 2021. Sukumaran succeeds
Dr Vinay K Nandicoori is the new Director Vinita Shrivastava. As the CHRO, Sukumaran will be
of the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and responsible for building on Syngene’s people-centric
Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad. organisational development priorities including HR
He is a molecular biologist and has been a strategy development, driving organisational matrices,
scientist at the DBT-National Institute of talent management and sustaining an inclusive work
Immunology, New Delhi. Dr Nandicoori’s culture. His focus will be on attracting and nurturing
research interest extensively spans molecular diverse scientific talent and promoting innovation,
excellence and a passion for making a difference in the
signalling lives of millions by putting science to work. Sukumaran
networks in joined Syngene in October 2017 as the Chief of Staff
Mycobacterium and was responsible for driving key strategic initiatives
tuberculosis, the across the organisation. A Mechanical Engineer with
micro-organism a management degree from the Indian Institute of
that causes TB. Management (IIM), Kozhikode and an Executive
His research Leadership Programme from INSEAD,
has found Singapore, Sukumaran has nearly
national and 25 years of experience in the
international areas of strategic management,
relevance and business advisory, and people
recognition. His management. Prior to joining
education and research training have been in Syngene, he has worked in
the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, a range of sectors including
Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, healthcare, life sciences,
Texas A&M University and the University financial services, software and
of Virginia, USA. He holds the JC Bose IT, FMCG, big data, supply chain
fellowship. He is an elected fellow of the management, e-commerce
Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National and shipping.
Science Academy and National Academy of
Sciences, India. Dr Nandicoori is succeeding
Dr Rakesh K Mishra as CCMB’s Director.

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com PEOPLE NEWS 41

Shivdutt Das joins Roche Diabetes
DY Patil Group as MD Care names
& CEO for healthcare biz Omar Sherief
Mohammad as
Shivdutt Das has been appointed as the Managing Director and IMEA Head
CEO for DY Patil Group’s healthcare business from June 1, 2021.
Das shall be spearheading the special purpose vehicle Zodiac Roche has appointed Omar Sherief
Healotronics created for the acquisition of Grand Port hospital, Mohammad as Head India, Middle
East & Africa (IMEA) within the
Mumbai and its further expansion into a medical Roche Diabetes Care (RDC) Global
college and other ancillary healthcare services. The Commercial Organisation, based in
group intends to make this one of the flagship Mumbai. Before this appointment,
projects and build this as a centre of excellence Omar has been General Manager
with 1000 bed super speciality hospital, medical RDC India since September 2019.
college, other paramedical and nursing education Mohammad will play a key role in
and associated plans of other business lines the shaping and executing of the
in the space of healthcare. Located in Wadala, overall commercial Go-To-Market
Mumbai, this setup has the ambition to become Strategy, responsible for setting
a landmark institution for Mumbai. He had been the strategic direction for IMEA,
associated with the group for the last few months in alignment with the Global
as an independent consultant and we are Commercial Organisation as well
happy to make this relationship stronger as the overall RDC strategy. In this
with this decision. newly created role, he will have
direct oversight of IMEA and the
Aster DM Healthcare RDC General Managers/Country
appoints Brandon Rowberry Heads of these markets will directly
as CEO - Digital Health report to him. Mohammad will
also be General Manager in India.
Aster DM Healthcare, currently operational in India and Middle As head of IMEA, Mohammad will
East, has announced the appointment of Brandon Rowberry, steer the countries under his charge
a global leader in corporate innovation and strategy, as Chief to amplify this patient-centric
Executive Officer of its Digital Health business. Working closely approach and collaborate with
with Alisha Moopen, Deputy Managing Director, Aster DM various stakeholders to address the
Healthcare, Rowberry would be driving the burden of diabetes in the region.
digital roadmap for the group and play a Mohammad has two decades of
crucial role in developing digital capabilities experience in the pharmaceutical
across the organisation’s existing presence in sector, primarily in diabetes
seven countries and soon in Cayman Islands. care, in India, global marketing
Rowberry brings two decades of experience in Denmark and emerging Asian
in innovation, strategy and development markets. Before joining Roche,
having worked at leading Fortune 500 Mohammad was the VP and GM of
companies. Before joining Aster, Rowberry Novo Nordisk, Vietnam and other
was an advisor-strategy and planning at Abu Southeast Asia emerging markets.
Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). Former
Vice-Chair- Global Business Solutions for
Mayo Clinic, Rochester and also former Vice President Innovation
Development for UnitedHealth Group, he has a grasp of a broad
array of tactical and strategic skills. He holds a Master’s degree
from Brigham Young University, Utah and has completed
Senior Executive Education in Design thinking, AI, Big Data and
Organisational Leadership from Harvard Business School.

42 ACADEMICS NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Shiv Nadar NATHEALTH signs
University, MoU with American
IISER Pune to College of Healthcare Executives
collaborate in
R&D projects NATHEALTH-Healthcare different stakeholders to find
Federation of India has solutions to the barriers of access
Shiv Nadar University, Delhi- signed a Memorandum of to quality healthcare, ways
NCR, and the Indian Institute Understanding (MoU) with the to improve patient outcomes
of Science Education and American College of Healthcare and attain executive positions
Research (IISER), Pune, have Executives (ACHE). Under this in healthcare settings and
entered into a Memorandum agreement, both will mutually national medical societies. This
of Understanding (MoU) for strengthen healthcare systems path-breaking MoU between
collaborations in scientific by developing and providing ACHE and NATHEALTH has
research & development leadership education and objectives such as build and
(R&D) and faculty/student development experiences that lead effective teams and achieve
exchanges between the two will help in preparing healthcare high levels of inter-professional
institutions. The agreement professionals to become clinical engagement; create collaborative,
enables the two institutions to leaders and improve patient participatory physician, clinical,
pursue significant academic care. The collaboration will bring and executive partnerships built
cooperation in R&D projects in educational opportunities on trust to improve patient care;
in the areas of natural through in-person interactions, and collaborate on educational
sciences, leveraging their such as the Annual Congress opportunities through virtual
respective expertise and on Healthcare Leadership. The delivery and as appropriate, in-
capabilities. The scope of the aim of this strategic partnership person interactions, such as the
agreement includes sharing is to provide a knowledge- Annual Congress on Healthcare
of relevant information and sharing platform that will enable Leadership programmes.
laboratory resources between
the two institutions as well as SSPU, AFMC join hands
exchange of students, scholars for healthcare research
and postdoctoral fellows
for projects. The research Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) has signed a Memorandum
interests of the faculty at Shiv of Understanding with the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, to
Nadar University, Delhi NCR prioritize research in the field of healthcare in support of the COVID-19
span areas as diverse as drug pandemic relief operation. Faculty exchanges, joint research projects,
and polymer design; protein internships and hands-on learning for students will be conducted by the
and DNA bioinformatics;
treatments for cancer, malaria two organisations, and solutions to difficulties
and other drug-resistant in the public health sector will be developed.
diseases; chemical and Earlier SPPU had signed a similar MoU with
biological networks; materials the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences
for energy applications; as a part of the same effort. Meanwhile the RT-
management of natural PCR testing for about 100 samples took place
resources; and climate at the newly established molecular diagnostics
change. testing laboratory on the SPPU campus. About
10 professors from the university had been
engaged in RT-PCR testing over a period of
four months at IISER to get hands-on training
for the same. SSPU was recently also in the
news after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the
consortium of Ayush institutions to help in research activities, realising
the need to study, understand, validate and integrate the Ayush systems,
according to the varsity officials.

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com 43

Cutting edge Lab Facilities for
Biotech Pharma and IT / ITES
Companies at TICEL BIOPARK, Coimbatore

Tamilnadu Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (TIDCO) has been formulating and developing self-sustained
Bio parks. The facilities feature robust infrastructure that minimizes investment of individual companies. TICEL BIO
PARK is a highly recognized and successful name on the commercial infrastructure landscape of Chennai. TICEL
BIO PARK I and II stand tall as a testimony to the concept’s acceptance across the Biotechnology industry.

After developing a comprehensive functional ecosystem for Biotech firms in Chennai, the game changing
concept is now all set to enrich the landscape of Coimbatore in the form of TICEL BIO PARK Ill. This cradle of life
science enterprise is a joint venture of TIDCO and TIDEL Park which spreads across a sprawling 10 acres and is
strategically located right next to Anna University. The ambitious project is spread across G+13 floors and offers
cutting edge facilities for Biotech Pharma and IT / ITES Companies. High end lab spaces stand out as unique value
propositions of the facility.

TICEL BIO PARK LIMITED – III

Typical Floor (8 Modules) in Ticel Bio Park - iii (Area in Sq. Ft)

Area Lab 1A Lab1B Lab 2A Lab 2B Lab 3A Lab 3B Lab 4A Lab 4B Total
Carpet area 1056 1426 1505 1453 1056 1426 1505 1453 10880

Super built up area 1469 1984 2094 2021 1469 1984 2094 2021 15136

Key Features of TICEL – III Please reach us:
■ Labs with Compressed Air,
TICEL BIO PARK LIMITED
Vacuum, RO Water, STP/ETP etc No. 5, CSIR Road, Taramani, Chennai–600113
■ Uninterrupted Power Supply with 100% Backup
■ Fool Proof, Multi Tier Security EMAIL : [email protected],
■ Ample Parking Spaces [email protected]
■ Green Lung Spaces with Idyllic Landscaping Mobile : 91-44-2254 2060,
■ Strategic Location with Easy Connectivity 9445956404 / 9445956407
■ Food Courts, ATMs etc in the Campus Web : www.ticelbiopark.com
■ Fully Equipped Conference Hall

44 R&D NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

IIT Ropar builds novel IoT device for cold chain management

Indian Institute of Technology, of temperature variation. This critical for vaccines including the
Ropar (IIT Ropar) in Punjab has information is particularly COVID-19 vaccine, organs and
developed a first-of-its-kind IoT blood transportation. Shaped
device – AmbiTag that records as a USB device, AmbiTag
real-time ambient temperature continuously records the
during the transportation of temperature of its immediate
perishable products, vaccines surroundings from -40 to +80
and even body organs and blood. degrees in any time zone for a
The recorded temperature full 90 days on a single charge.
further helps to know whether Most of the similar devices
that particular item transported available in the international
from anywhere in the world is market record data only for 30-
still usable or perished because 60 days.

IIT-H’s oral solution NII receives
for black fungus set
for technology transfer Trademark

In 2019, researchers at Indian Institute of Technology, for India’s first
Hyderabad (IIT-H) made a proven study about oral
nanofibrous Amphotericin B (AMB) to be effective for Kala indigenous tumour
Azar. This is a first-ever attempt to fabricate nanofibrous
oral tablets of AMB for the potential cure of Leishmaniasis antigen SPAG9
or Kala Azar. With the two years of advancement of
examination, the researchers are now confident that the India’s first indigenous tumour antigen
technology can be transferred to suitable pharma partners SPAG9 was discovered by Dr Anil Suri
for large-scale production. At present, the Kala-Azar in 1998 who is heading the Cancer
treatment is being used as a treatment for Black & other Research Programme at New Delhi-based
Fungus in the country and its availability and affordability National Institute of Immunology (NII),
make it necessary to allow emergency and immediate an autonomous institute of Department
trial of this oral drug. In present research funded by DST- of Biotechnology (DBT). In a recent
Nanomission, a team of researchers intended to deliver development, the SPAG9 antigen has
AMB orally at an extremely slow rate, of course within received the trademark ASPAGNIITM.
the therapeutic window. The purpose was to increase the Currently, ASPAGNIITM is being used in
drug absorption and reduce aggregation, to lower the drug dendritic cell (DC) based immunotherapy
toxicity. For this, the team has selected gelatin, an FDA- in cervical, ovarian cancer and will also be
approved polymer as an excipient for drug molecules. used in breast cancer. With the funding
support of the DBT in future, employing
ASPAGNIITM, a phase 2 randomised
controlled clinical trial to evaluate the
role of metronomic chemotherapy
and dendritic cell vaccine in recurrent
hormone receptor-negative breast cancer
will be initiated at Cancer Institute, Adyar.



46 R&D NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

IIT-M grows IISc identifies biomarkers
human brain to differentiate between
tissues from bacterial, viral infections
3D-printed
bioreactor A recent study from the Indian accurately indicates whether
Institute of Science (IISc), a given blood sample has a
Indian Institute of Bengaluru has identified a set bacterial or viral infection, across
Technology, Madras of molecular biomarkers that different bacteria and viruses and
(IIT-M) and Massachusetts can be used in the differential across different age groups. The
Institute of Technology diagnosis of acute bacterial and researchers suggest that the test
(MIT) scientists have grown viral infections. These biomarkers could be useful for differentiating
human brain tissues called are different messenger RNA COVID-19 infection from bacterial
‘organoids’ with help of a 3D (mRNA) molecules found in the infections as well. In the study, they
Printed Bioreactor that they blood; differences in their levels looked at various viral infections
developed. The objective can detect and predict with high for which transcriptomic data is
was to observe the brain probability if an infection is viral or publicly available. This allowed
tissues while they grow and bacterial. To make it useful in the them to develop a generic VB10
develop a technology that can clinic, the researchers have devised test score for viral infections. The
potentially accelerate medical a standalone score called VB10, researchers expect it to be useful
and therapeutic discoveries which could be used for diagnosis, early-on during the infection, and
for diseases such as cancer monitoring the stage of recovery work against any strain. This can
and neurological disorders after infection, and estimating supplement the current COVID-19
like Alzheimer’s and the severity of the infection. VB10 diagnosis tests.
Parkinson’s. A 3D printed
micro-incubator and imaging SCTIMST develops multiplex RT-PCR
chamber was made into a kit to detect COVID-19 mutations
single palm-sized platform,
which was successfully Researchers at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and
demonstrated for long-term Technology (SCTIMST), based in Thiruvananthapuram, have developed
human brain cell culture a multiplex RT-PCR kit that targets two SARS- CoV-2 genes: RdRp and
and real-time imaging. This ORFb-nsp14, and the human RNAse P gene as the internal control to help
technology has been patented detect a range of mutant strains. Various studies have shown that RdRp and
in India. The research team ORF1b-nsp14 genes are more sensitive in detecting COVID-19. In order
is exploring the feasibility of
international collaborations. to target the multiple variants
This project was taken up in the second wave, using two
with the support of the highly accurate confirmatory
Center for Computational genes like RdRp and ORF-
Brain Research (CCBR) at nsp14, can give precise
IIT Madras for funding and results. The ORFb-nsp14 is
MIT, U.S., which guided the one of the least mutated genes
researchers. in COVID-19 and currently,
there are no kits in the market
with ORF-nsp14 as the target.
The new kit is based on
multiplex Taqman chemistry,
amplifying all three genes in a
single reaction. The amplification time for the assay is 45 minutes, apart
from the time required for the RNA isolation from nasopharyngeal swab
samples. Multiplexing two confirmatory genes will help shortlist possible
new variants if one of the genes fails to amplify and can be marked for
sequence analysis. SCTIMST has signed a non-exclusive license MoU with
Huwel Lifesciences, Hyderabad, to commercialize the kit.



48 SUPPLIERS NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Waters sets new standard in hi-res mass spectrometry

Waters Corporation has so much faster, at speeds up to of its kind that is capable of
introduced the Waters SELECT 10Hz without compromising attaining 200,000 Full Width
SERIES MRT, a high-resolution mass accuracy or resolution. The Half Maximum (FWHM)
mass spectrometer that combines SELECT SERIES MRT platform is resolution and part-per-billion
Multi Reflecting Time-of-Flight the basis for the next generation mass accuracy independent
(MRT) technology with both of Waters’ high-resolution mass of scan speed. The superior
enhanced DESI and new MALDI spectrometers. It is the first performance of the SELECT
imaging sources. Together, these SERIES MRT allows scientists
technologies enable scientists to commercially to get the highest quality
explore molecular structure and available mass spectrometry data and
function through the precise instrument information faster than any
identification and localization of commercial mass spectrometer
individual molecules in samples,
with a unique combination of on the market today. The new
speed, resolution, and mass Multi Reflecting Time-of-
accuracy. For example, a Flight technology features
scientist researching how an an extended flight path of
investigational oncology drug almost 50 metres to give
interacts with its intended scientists a much clearer picture
target, such as a specific brain of structural information,
tumor receptor, can now do including fine isotope
structure.

BD introduces Thermo Fisher launches
Invitrogen Attune
iodine-based system to CytPix Flow Cytometer

remove wound debris Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced the launch
of the Invitrogen Attune CytPix Flow Cytometer, an
BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) has imaging-enhanced flow cytometer that combines
announced the availability of BD Surgiphor acoustic focusing flow cytometry technology with
Sterile Wound Irrigation System, a ready-to- a high-speed camera. The Attune CytPix allows
use aqueous povidone-iodine (PVP-I) irrigation users to collect high-performance fluorescent flow
solution that mechanically loosens and removes cytometry data
wound debris. BD Surgiphor is a pre-mixed, from cells while
pre-labeled, single patient surgical wound simultaneously
irrigation solution. BD Surgiphor uses PVP-I, a capturing high-
well-known antiseptic agent, as a preservative resolution
within the solution providing a broad-spectrum brightfield images,
antimicrobial effect against gram-positive and allowing users
to match images
gram-negative bacteria and yeast with their flow
to reduce the risk of unwanted cytometry data to
microbial growth in the solution better understand
after the bottle is opened. the morphology and quality of the cells. The
The preservative, as per the Invitrogen Attune CytPix Flow Cytometer is a user-
company, provides a 99.99 friendly, modular benchtop instrument that enables
per cent reduction in bacteria researchers working in QA/QC or cell therapy
within the bottled solution. applications to gather additional information about
Healthcare professionals are their cells and the sample quality while running flow
thus assured that the product cytometry experiments without sacrificing speed or
they are using has a one in a simplicity.
million chance of containing a
single viable microorganism.

BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com SUPPLIERS NEWS 49

Agilent’s new exome Eurofins develops
design to enhance
genome-based studies multiplex PCR test

Agilent Technologies Inc. has announced the release of for Delta variant
SureSelect Human All Exon V8 – a new exome design
that provides comprehensive content and up-to-date Eurofins Technologies has announced the
coverage of protein coding regions from RefSeq, CCDS, launch of its GSD NovaType III SARS-CoV-2
and GENCODE. It also covers the TERT promoter RT-PCR test, developed for the rapid detection
and hard-to-capture exons that are omitted by other of variants of concern of SARS-CoV-2, in
exomes on the market. The new design is available particular the variants B.1.617 (India), B.1.427 /
in three options – routine exome sequencing (Exome B.1.429 (California / United
v8), clinical research sequencing (v8 Clinical Plus), States), B.1.351 (South
and translational research (v8 UTR Plus) – allowing Africa) and P.1 (Brazil).
for content flexibility to meet the customer’s needs. The test facilitates the
Powered by machine learning-based probe design and identification of relevant
an improved probe-printing process, the SureSelect mutations E484Q, E484K
Human All Exon V8 spans a 35.1 Mb target region and L452R in a combined
of the human genome, with an efficient end-to-end reaction to the simultaneous
design size of only 41.6 Mb. The panel delivers excellent discrimination of the wild-
enrichment performance for more uniform coverage, as type variant E484 of the
well as efficient and cost-effective exome sequencing. S gene. These mutations
have been associated with
reports of potential loss of
efficacy of some vaccines
and increased transmissibility of the virus.
The GSD NovaType III SARS-CoV-2 Kit is the
latest addition to the GSD NovaType product
line, a continuously updated panel of single
and multiplex assays for the screening and
detection of emerging variants of concern
(VOC) and of interest (VOI) on positive
samples.

Honeywell offers air purification device for healthcare facilities

Honeywell has launched such as in hospitals, clinics, and to the need for
U-Prism, an air and healthcare facilities. The product more frequent
surface purification was designed by engineers at and thorough
device that uses Honeywell Technology Solutions sanitisation of public
UV-C technology to (HTS), the company’s global spaces, especially
disinfect the air in technology development and those that witness
highly vulnerable engineering facility based in higher footfalls such
areas in buildings. Bengaluru. U-Prism was created as hospitals and
U-Prism is an easy-to- to help facilities better respond healthcare facilities.
install, wall-mounted unit that The device uses high-intensity
offers continuous disinfection by UV-C light, a special reflector
deactivating pathogens. It is part and a unique louver to disinfect
of Honeywell’s Healthy Buildings the air, which is then circulated
offering. U-Prism is suited for by convective air currents. It can
places where large numbers be used in spaces with limited
of people are nearby, with a mechanical ventilation and is safe
possibility of disease transmission for air-conditioned and non-air-
through airborne pathogens – conditioned environments.

50 LET’S TALK HEALTH & SCIENCE BIOSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

‘Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis’
remains a puzzle

The most common type of arthritis in children that may cause similar symptoms, such as bone
called juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), where disorders or breaks, fibromyalgia, infection, lyme
idiopathic means ‘from unknown causes’, is disease, lupus, or cancer.
currently imposing a formidable burden on patients
and caregivers in terms of reduced quality of life and The good part is that in recent years, treatment
economic hardship globally. The financial burden options and outcomes for patients with JIA have
is attributable to the cost of multiple clinic visits, improved considerably. These changes have been
laboratory tests, imaging investigations, expensive attributed to the availability of biologic therapies and
medications, occasional hospitalisation, and work- the increasing efforts to move toward a treat-to-target
absenteeism. approach in JIA management.

It is estimated that nearly 1 in every 1000 children In addition, the creation of large paediatric
develops this condition. JIA can cause persistent research networks has improved patient access
joint pain, swelling and stiffness with some children to, and design of, clinical trials for rare paediatric
experiencing these symptoms for only a few months, diseases. Although these advances have resulted
while others have symptoms for many years. While in improvements in care for most patients, certain
we observe July as the Juvenile Arthritis Awareness subgroups of patients continue to have a poor
Month, we can’t help wondering that so much burden prognosis. For instance, a number of patients with
is being carried for a disease for which the causes are polyarticular disease are still refractory to multiple
still unknown. treatments, and, more recently, some patients with
systemic JIA are developing a form of interstitial lung
It is regarded as an autoimmune disorder where disease, which is a cause for concern.
the immune system attacks some of the body’s own
healthy cells and tissues. Scientists don’t know exactly Medications such as nonsteroidal anti-
why this happens or what causes the disorder in inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), disease-modifying
children. Some think that something in a child’s genes antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), biologic agents,
makes the child more likely to get arthritis, and then corticosteroids are prescribed for the treatment but
something else, such as a virus, sets off the arthritis. these drugs can interfere with normal growth of the
children and increase susceptibility to infection.
In particular, JIA is an umbrella term for several
subtypes of arthritis seen in children and adolescents As an alternative, acupuncture is considered to
under the age of 16. There are six main subtypes of help a child handle some of the stress of living with
JIA namely oligoarticular that involves four joints an ongoing illness. The National Institutes of Health
or fewer; polyarticular that involves five or more (NIH) in the US considers acupuncture an acceptable
joints; systemic arthritis that begins with fevers, additional treatment for arthritis. Studies show it eases
rashes, and inflammation in other parts of the body pain, may lower the need for painkillers, and can boost
as well as the joints; psoriatic arthritis that involves flexibility in affected joints. But it doesn’t stop joint
inflammation of the joints occurring in some children damage from getting worse with some forms of JIA.
with psoriasis; enthesitis-related arthritis associated
with tendons and ligaments attached to bones; and Consequently, scientists are of the view that
an undifferentiated type that doesn’t fit into any one incorporation of novel biomarkers in combination
of the categories mentioned here. with validated clinical measures in an effort to predict
outcomes and target therapy accordingly could come
Some forms can also cause eye inflammation. out as an exciting development. Moreover, the use of
And if this condition is left untreated, it may result personalised medicine can be explored to help use the
in cataract, glaucoma and even blindness in children. right drug for the right patient at the right time.
Because there is no actual test for detecting JIA, the
diagnosis is often made by excluding other conditions Dr Manbeena Chawla
Executive Editor

[email protected]