Last year and a half was a big announcement that we need to improve the healthcare infrastructure globally. This pandemic presented us with many areas for innovation and better management, which lead to proactive government policies and participation of businesses and academia alike in R&D.

Focusing on the in-vitro diagnostic industry – India, part of the three largest markets in Asia-Pacific along with China and Japan, is currently a INR 75,000 Cr. market with nine players above an annual revenue of INR 100 Cr. While pathology holds nearly 55% of the market, the industry has experienced a growth of 25% in preventive testing. Factors fueling such tremendous growth are, increasing disposable incomes, growing cases of chronic diseases like diabetes (a shared feature of developing and developed countries), rising cases of cancer in all age groups (expected to reach 1.9 million by 2040 by IARC), adoption of self preventive healthcare, increase in the number of organized corporate businesses in this industry, and several technological innovations which make tracking one’s health more effortless than ever before.

This industry took centre stage during COVID-19 as testing was one of the main levers to control and curb the spread of the virus, which allowed the industry to contribute like never before. Other than a massive opportunity for key players to fuel their research on technological advancements, the need to stay relevant and provide rapid, accurate and reliable results also came.

Being the front line warriors in the country’s fight against the virus, for us at Suburban Diagnostics felt like fulfilling our purpose, our destiny. We invested in the Molecular diagnostics segment a few years ago, which saw a significant trigger after the outbreak of COVID 19 and is expected to grow at 7.12% CAGR between 2020 & 2025. This foresight kept us relevant and enabled us to play our part as a diagnostics business that has thrived towards unburdening healthcare.

So that’s what we plan to keep up; investing in technology keeps us pertinent for the country’s future needs. The role of technology in building better accessibility and better testing capabilities will be the focus for us. Discoveries like Genomics and Genetic testing will make our services more personalized to the needs of our customers, and technological advancements and investments in a digital platform for in-vitro tests will make us more accessible to clinicians and patients globally. Fields like point-of-care (POC) diagnostics and companion diagnostics which lead to better-targeted therapies and hence, better health outcomes, are also an interest we are exploring.

Externalities like home healthcare services that came in perspective due to safety and social distancing needs also open up opportunities for us to serve better. Leveraging technology to consolidate lab and testing services and improving the logistics and supply chain will help us harness those opportunities. Investments for maintaining quality standards and upgrading the skills and knowledge of our staff has always been a perpetual process for us which will also heighten activity and enhanced skill sets given the technological advances.