'Need for Disruptive Technologies to Advance Indian Healthcare'

Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, recently participated in a conference on the Application of New-age Technologies in Diagnostics organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Northern Regional Committee on Diagnostics and Technology.

CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led organization, that is engaged in creating and sustaining an environment conducive to the development of India.

Aimed at highlighting the present and future of diagnostics, in a lead-up to India’s 100^th year of independence, the conference brought together industry stalwarts on a single platform.

Alongside other dignitaries, Amit Chopra, Managing Director, India and South Asia, Thermo Fisher Scientific, deliberated on how disruptive technologies are advancing healthcare in India. Emphasizing the adoption of new-age technologies in India, he said, “Omics, mass spectrometry, next generation sequencing (NGS) and predictive genomics have profound application in research. Over the recent past, we are witnessing a gradual convergence of these technologies into mainstream clinical applications. NGS is being increasingly applied to fields such as non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) and in oncology, where it is used for precision diagnostics to improve targeted therapies and patient outcomes.”

“The need of the hour is to standardize these tests to drive scale, lower costs and ensure better patient outcomes. A close collaboration between the private and public sectors can drive greater awareness,” he further added.

Thermo Fisher Scientific is among the leaders in NGS and offers state-of-the-art, sample-to-result automations that reduce manual steps and facilitate quality data and fast reporting. In the field of precision medicine, Thermo Fisher is working closely with large pharmaceutical businesses to  develop companion diagnostics in multiple areas such as heart disease, neurosciences and infectious diseases.

Speaking on the role of digitalization in driving access to diagnostics, Amit Chopra cited, “Organizations such as Thermo Fisher Scientific offer equipment integrated with digital tools and remote connectivity. However, due to the highly fragmented nature of the Indian diagnostic industry and lack of standardization, adoption of digitization is limited.”

As India aims to achieve Universal Health Coverage by 2030, access to diagnostics tests is going to be critical. While the country has taken multiple initiatives such as the formulation of the National Essential Diagnostics List (NEDL) and free diagnostics under PMJAY, a significant gap exists between India and developed countries, especially with regard to access to new-age diagnostics.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has made significant investments in strengthening its capabilities and capacities in India to rapidly introduce high-impact innovations and become more accessible to customers. Besides catering to the different segments of diagnostics, it offers end-to-end workflows in molecular testing starting from PCR, RTPCR, capillary electrophoresis, microarray and NGS. All these technologies play an important role in precision, companion and preventive diagnostics.