Genomic tests get cheaper, expand beyond metros

Genomic testing, once considered an expensive and niche service, is rapidly becoming more affordable and accessible across India, with prices of routine tests falling by 30 to 40 per cent in the past few years.

- ANJALI SINGH

Prices of routine tests such as BRCA1/2 for cancer risk assessment and noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) now range between %5,000 and %20,000, respectively. Even advanced procedures, such as whole exome sequencing, earlier priced at around %25,000, are increasingly within reach at %18,000, while the cost of whole genome sequencing currently about %60,000 is expected to fall below %20,000 in the next three years.

This sharp decline in costs is being driven by acombination of technological advances, high-throughput platforms, rising test volumes, and the entry oflocal players. Hospitals and diagnostic chains are aggressively expanding capacity, moving beyond metros into Tier-II and Tier-III cities, while investing in bioinformatics and AI to improve turnaround times and interpretation.