Online Diagnostics business report : Diagnostic center feasibility study in India : India Diagnostic Market study by FINPRO

The total Indian healthcare sector is today 34 billion USD and it is projected to grow to nearly 40 billion by 2012. The diagnostic and pathology market is around two percent of the total market. Indian diagnostic market has been growing fast, at 15-20 percent growth rate but there are lots ofdevelopment needs. The growth rate is estimated to remain the same for the following ten years.

As in all India related issues, again the scale is so amazing - as the Indian interviewees put it: it is all about numbers in India! Also funding is always an issue.

One of the major driving forces is the basic demographic change: the migration to urban cities, with increasing number of people having access to modern healthcare. Consequently, more and more investments are being made in hospitals and clinical laboratories. However, the rural sector is not to be forgotten.- The emerging industry structure is headed towards providing healthcare services as an integrated comprehensive package rather than the traditional concept of providing healthcare infrastructure and reactive medical care. Among the middle and high-income families in India there is a rapidly increasing health consciousness which leads to high demand on preventive health care.

The Indian diagnostic market is clearly divided in two different categories: the non-communicable diseases which are more clearly life-style related, and the communicable diseases which are a big issue in India. Despite the quick economic growth and increasing number of middle class representatives, India is still a developing country with a huge number of rural inhabitants with massive sanitation problems. The basic market requirement is to come up with more indigenous products with affordable prices, bearing in mind that the usability is also in issue: the diagnostic kits should be easy to use, not requiring a doctor.

 

Read complete report : http://www.tekes.fi/en/gateway/PTARGS_0_200_368_859_1841_43/http%3B/tekes-ali1%3B7087/publishedcontent/publish/en_content/campaigns/diagnostics/reports/finpro_feasibility_study_india.pdf

 

 

Online Diagnostics business news : Business Week : Super Religare Buys Piramal Health’s Diagnostics Unit

July 14 (Bloomberg) -- Super Religare Laboratories Ltd., controlled by billionaire brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, agreed to buy Piramal Healthcare Ltd.'s diagnostics unit for 6 billion rupees ($129 million) to become India's largest provider of laboratory services.

The combined entity will have about 170 laboratories serving more than 12 million customers annually, Piramal said in a statement today. Mumbai-based Piramal is also in talks to buy 10 percent of Super Religare and the companies expect to decide on the purchase by tomorrow, Gopal Vaidyanathan, director of strategy at Super Religare, said in a telephone interview today.

The purchase will help increase medical-imaging services including X-rays and ultrasounds at New Delhi-based Super Religare, which has focused on pathology services such as blood tests, Vaidyanathan said. India's diagnostic services market may expand as much as 24 percent annually from 120 billion rupees this year, he said.

"This combination will go a long way in changing the diagnostic services landscape of not just India but also the Asia region," Ajay Piramal, chairman of Piramal group, said in the statement.

Piramal Healthcare fell 1.5 percent to close at 503.85 rupees in Mumbai trading. India's benchmark Sensitive index dropped 0.3 percent.

Read complete news article : http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-14/super-religare-buys-piramal-health-s-diagnostics-unit.html

Online Diagnostics news : Bio Scholar : Kidney function, damage markers could help predict mortality risk

A new study has shown that common tests of kidney function and damage can predict the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases and all causes.

This analysis of 21 studies from 14 countries found that a common blood test to estimate kidney function and a urine test measuring protein (albumin) to estimate kidney damage were strongly related to mortality risk.

"People with high levels of albumin in their urine were at markedly higher risk of mortality than people with low levels of albumin in the urine," said Kunihiro Matsushita, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health"s Department of Epidemiology.

"The risk of mortality was elevated by nearly 50 percent at 30 mg/g albumin to creatinine ratio, which is the threshold for defining chronic kidney disease. In addition, mortality risk increased more than four-fold at high levels of albuminuria compared to an optimal level of 5 mg/g.

"The data presented in this analysis confirm that the current thresholds are indicative of increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality risk with both kidney filtration function and urine protein contributing to risk," Matsushita added.

The results are published in the May 17, 2010 issue of the Lancet.

 

Read  original article : http://news.bioscholar.com/2010/05/kidney-function-damage-markers-could-help-predict-mortality-risk.html

Online Diagnostics news : Bio Scholar : Lipid Marker Linked to Worsening of Kidney Disease

In patients with mild to moderate kidney disease, measuring levels of a protein called apolipoprotein A-IV (apoA-IV) can accurately predict the long-term risk of progressive loss of kidney function, reports a study in the February Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

"Patients with primary kidney disease would like to know whether they are at risk of disease progression, which often results in renal replacement therapy such as hemodialysis and/or kidney transplantation," comments Dr. Florian Kronenberg of Innsbruck Medical University, Austria, one of the study authors. "Our results show that apoA-IV is an excellent predictor for the progression of kidney disease, adding important and additional information besides the exact determination of kidney function."

The seven-year follow-up study included 177 non-diabetic patients with primary kidney disease classified as mild to moderate, based on glomerular filtration rateâ€"a standard measure of kidney function. At the beginning of the study, the patients underwent detailed analysis of blood lipid levelsâ€"not just cholesterol and triglycerides, but also apolipoproteins, which are proteins that carry lipids including cholesterol through the bloodstream.

During the follow-up period, kidney function worsened in approximately 37 percent of patients. Some lipid measurements differed in patients with progressive kidney disease, including a lower level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ("good" cholesterol); a higher level of triglycerides; and levels of a specific apolipoprotein, termed apoA-IV.

 

Please read complete story : http://news.bioscholar.com/2006/01/lipid-marker-linked-to-worsening-of-kidney-disease.html

Online Diagnostics news : Bio Scholar : Morning urine test could help doctors save kidneys

A morning urine test is best in detecting declining kidney performance in patients with diabetic kidney disease, according to a new study.

Patients suffering from this disorder often excrete excess protein in the urine, a condition called proteinuria.

Dr. Hiddo Lambers Heerspink, PharmD, (University Medical Center Groningen, in the Netherlands) and his colleagues assessed and compared the ability of various proteinuria measures, including proteinuria versus albuminuria and 24-hours versus early morning sampling, to predict worsening kidney problems.

Albuminuria, a large component of proteinuria, is more specific than total proteinuria and is defined as an excess amount of albumin in the urine.

Amongst the samples – urinary protein from a 24-hour urine collection, urinary albumin from 24-hour and morning sample collection – the team found that measuring the albumin:creatinine ratio in a first morning urine sample was the superior method to predict kidney problems in patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease.

The authors noted that standardizing proteinuria measures would improve methods for detecting and monitoring kidney disease.

The study appears in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN).

 

Original article can be read from : http://news.bioscholar.com/2010/07/morning-urine-test-could-help-doctors-save-kidneys.html

Online Business News : Express Healthcare : Indus Health Plus Partners with Thyrocare Technologies

Indus Health Plus, the pioneer in the field of preventive healthcare, has tied up with Thyrocare Technologies Ltd, an ISO 9001-2008 certified pathology lab to provide pathology lab services to its customers- 'Indusites'. Thyrocare has a pan-India presence through a network of 700 service providers.

With this strategic tie up, Indus Health Plus can now provide pathology lab services to its customers more effectively and effortlessly at their door step, just a phone call away. 'Indusites' seeking pathology lab tests can now call the hotline number which would be diverted to the nearest service provider. With this alliance, Indusites can avail a whopping 30 per cent discount on the pathology lab tests.

 

Read complete news : http://www.expresshealthcaremgmt.com/201007/market05.shtml

Online Article : Frost & Sullivan :: Outsourcing in Clinical Diagnostics

 By Alex Wong, Industry Manager, Discovery & Diagnostics 

Outsourcing has been an ongoing practice in the biopharmaceutical, chemical and drug discovery sectors for many years now. Likewise, subcontracting in the field of clinical diagnostics represents no new phenomenon. In a recent Frost & Sullivan end user survey which implicated approximately 500 central labs across Europe, lab managers were asked what they would do if they needed to perform a particular assay for which they did not have the testing capability. Reflective of the current climate of cost-constraints affecting the European diagnostics industry, outsourcing - rather than investing in new technology - emerged as the prominent solution. Following on from last month's insight into outsourcing in the in vitro diagnostics industry, this article highlights some of the key rationale behind the appeal of outsourcing in the clinical laboratory arena. 

More often than not, labs (and companies in general) tend to outsource so as to access capabilities not currently available in-house. Such competencies include:

• accreditations of personnel and lab practices, including quality control and quality assurance processes
• analytical equipment
• experience 
• technical expertise

Employing a contract laboratory / service provider may also aid in:

• combating (skilled) staff shortages
• eliminating purchase of sophisticated, capital-intensive instrumentation
• implementation of 'best practices' - providing an independent viewpoint on current procedures and analytical techniques compared to in-house protocols
• improving result turn around time
• project management - extremely large or low priority assignments realised without neglecting higher priority tasks

 

Read complete article : http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/market-insight-top.pag?docid=21221081

Online Article : Outsourceportfolio.com : Medical Diagnostics outsourcing to India : Testing waters in diagnostic and lab services outsourcing

In a recent Frost & Sullivan end user survey that implicated 500 central labs across Europe, lab managers were asked what they would do if they needed to perform a particular assay for which they did not have the right testing equipment. Their carefully considered answer, believe it or not, was that they would outsource it to a third-party vendor who had the necessary expertise. Less than a decade ago, they may have answered differently (said they would invest in new technology), but today, in view of the cost-constraining climates that ails the diagnostics industry, outsourcing – rather than investing in new technology – emerges as a more viable solution.

Although savings in excess of 80% per test have been reported in outsourcing lab-testing services to India, a more realistic estimate would be around 25%. The Indian diagnostics and pathology laboratory business is currently estimated around USD 864 million and is growing at a rate of 20 % per annum, according to various surveys.

 

Read compelete article : http://outsourceportfolio.com/testing-waters-diagnostic-lab-services-outsourcing/

 

Online Lab News : Quality India : Laboratory Quality in India: Lab race towards Quality

Pathological laboratories have historically lagged behind in the race towards achieving Quality benchmarks. Not any more. Today, with the help from the Quality Councilof India, laboratories are opting for NABL accreditation.

 

By a rough estimate there are around 100,000 laboratories in the country. The number may seem big but in a country ofour size and population, it is a small percentage.These laboratories are largely in metros and major cities or towns and for those livingin rural and remote regions, a trudge to the nearest town is still a reality.

It is also known that many of these laboratoriesmay not even meet normal and expected Quality standards and many may not even have qualified lab technicians. "If the labs need due recognition then they must register with the Quality Council of India and develop minimum or essential standards. As on date, all over the country, most of the labs do not have a official recognition," opines Dr Venkatesh Thuppil, of National Referral Centre for Lead Poisoning in India, at St John Hospital, Bengaluru.

Popularly known as "Lead Man" for his pioneering work in detecting lead poisoning, Dr Thuppil is critical of the fact that the country lacks a sufficient number of super-speciality laboratories. The medical profession has progressed enormousl while the progress on the laboratory front has remained nearstatic. Dr Thuppil is of the view that "at this juncture we need more super speciality laboratory facilities in the government sector in the diagnosis and prognosis of complicated diseases".

Diagnostic and prognostic pathology investigationsare mostly conducted in good private hospitals, which at any time, are beyond the reach of ordinary citizens who are dependent on government hospitals. But it is unfortunate that even large government hospitals lack skilled technicians to carry out many of the diagnostic and prognostic tests. "I do not share this view. In my hospital I have an elaborate laboratory managed by competent and dedicated doctors and technicians who have acquitted themselves well. There are doctors conducting research here," points out Dr K K Kalra, Medical Superintendent, Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya (CNBC), the country's foremost paediatric hospital.

CNBC is an exception as Dr A K Agarwal, Dean of Mualana Azad Medical College, points out. "We cannot hide from the fact that, in general, we lack good and Quality pathology laboratories in the country," he says and adds, "it is an important aspect of the medical profession and yet very few opt for laboratory work." Dr Thuppil oncurs and emphasises that "there are not enough competent professionals and technicians to run a laboratory".

 

Read complete article :http://www.qcin.org/nbqp/qualityindia/Vol-2-No3/medicallabspage22.html

Online Business Article : BioTechConnection : Indian Diagnostics business: On The Growth Path-Diagnostics And Pathological Testing Market In India

The Growing Indian Healthcare Industry

The healthcare industry in India is growing at a rapid pace and it is poised to become one of the dominant participants of the Indian economy. According to a Yes Bank and ASSOCHAM report, the Indian health care industry is estimated to grow at 23% p.a. to $77 billion by 2012 from the current $35 billion. The sector has grown at a rate of 9.3% from the year 2000 to 2009.

Of the sum, diagnostic and pathology services would account for $2.5 billion in 2012, more than double its estimated current size of $1billion. The growth in the segment is expected to be driven by consolidation in the industry and increasing insurance penetration among the country's population. Healthcare facilities, inclusive of public and private hospitals, the core sector, around which the healthcare sector is centered, would continue to contribute over 70% of the total sector and touch a figure of $54.7 billion by 2012

According McKinsey report, the Indian healthcare market is expected to grow at a rate of 10-12 percent p.a. This is being driven by a strong local demand and growing population. With average household consumption expected to increase by more than 7 per cent per annum, the annual healthcare expenditure is projected to grow at 10 per cent and also the number of insured is likely to jump from 100 million to 220 million. India's high population makes it an important player in this industry. According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, the Indian healthcare industry has the potential to show the same exponential growth that the software and pharmaceutical industries have shown in the past decade. Only 10 per cent of the market potential has been tapped till date. This is indicative of the strong growth potential of the Indian healthcare market.

The last few years have seen a rise in the purchasing power of the middle class. With an erratic and sedentary urban lifestyle of the growing middle and upper-middle class in India, healthcare has become an important component of everyone's life. Expenditure on healthcare is rising with increase in self-awareness and availability of high-class healthcare facilities with the advent of private players. According to ICRA 2005 report on Indian Medical Care Industry, India spends 5.10 percent of its GDP on healthcare. India's expenditure on health, in terms of percentage of GDP, is among the highest for developing countries. India is being seen as the preferred destination for quality health solutions due to the major cost advantage over the western countries. 

The burgeoning segment; Pathology and Diagnostics testing market in India

 The diagnostics and pathology testing market in India represents one of the most lucrative markets in the world. The market has grown robustly in past few years on the back of increasing disease prevalence and rising consumer awareness. There are 2 major segments of the Diagnostics Market:

1) Pathological Laboratories             2) Diagnostic kits and reagents

Both of the above segments provide very strong potential for growth, both in the domestic market and as a preferred hub for clinical trials and outsourcing from western countries.

Read complete article : http://biotechconnection.com/?p=1121