“Made in India products need an ecosystem for commercialisation of innovations”

Established in 1998, Ernakulam-based Agappe Diagnostics is one of the rapidly growing companies in the in vitro diagnostic (IVD) industry in India, having a wide range of products in the pre-analytical and analytical segment. Focused on research, design, and production of clinical chemistry reagents and instrument, Agappe has over 1000 distributors and holds a significant place in the global original equipment manufacturer (OEM) business. The company currently has a workforce of more than 600 employees spread across sectors such as R&D, manufacturing, sales, support and operations. In conversation with BioSpectrum, Thomas John, Managing Director, Agappe Diagnostics, Ernakulam shares his strategies and plans for the company’s growth in the long run.

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How has Agappe faced the challenges of COVID-19 in terms of production, technology and revenue?

In a highly import-dominated IVD sector, Agappe has always emphasised on the indigenous development of technology. Our far-sightedness for developing in-house manufacturing has enabled us to envisage products that are suitable for developing countries. In line with this thought, we have focused on our R & D division, with a committed expenditure of over 5 per cent of our revenues. The disruption of supplies caused by the pandemic and the lockdown did not deter us, as our products were already in the pipeline to be manufactured in India.

During this pandemic, we paced ourselves to commercially launch Mispa Count X, India’s first indigenously built blood cell counter, in partnership with L&T Technology Services, a leading global pure-play engineering services company. We are the first Indian company to indigenously design, develop and commercialise the 3-part haematology analyser. Agappe also became the first Indian IVD company to launch IoT based semi-automated clinical chemistry analysers during the peak of the pandemic. In tune with the need of the hour, Agappe’s R & D team has developed the RT LAMP technology-based COVID-19 test kits, Mispa LUME and Mispa Lume Screen nCov for the domestic market. These products are validated and approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). The test kits have been approved by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) for use by laboratories.