Roche Diagnostics India looks at 15 per cent IVD market share in 2 years

New Delhi: Roche Diagnostics India is aiming at 15 per cent share of the in-vitro diagnostics market in the next two years as part of its growth plans in the country.

Roche Diagnostics is part of Swiss healthcare major Roche. It sells devices and equipment to labs and hospitals and is mainly present in the business-to-business space.

"We are planning to have around 15 per cent of the market share in in-vitro diagnostics segment in India in next two years," Roche Diagnostics India & Neighbouring Markets MD Shravan Subramanyam told.

The goal is to take a little bit of market share from the unorganised sector and grow the company's share of the market. The IVD industry in India is approximately worth Rs 5,000 crore, he added.

In-vitro diagnostics are tests that can detect diseases, conditions or infections. Some tests are used in the laboratory or other health professional settings while others are for use at home.

"We are also seeing consolidation of our customers, that is labs, and we would like to access tier II and tier III cities and rural markets through them and get a larger piece of the diagnostics market," Subramanyam said.

From a strategic roadmap point of view, for the next five years, the company is looking at how to be relevant in India and so is focusing on areas such as women's health, non-communicable diseases like diabetes, cardio vascular diseases, cancer and wellness segments, he added.

"But as India still has a very high burden of infectious diseases, we will continue to be in the space of infectious diseases," Subramanyam said.

When asked if the company is planning to open a manufacturing or research and development facility in India, he said nothing in this direction was being planned at the moment.

"Our focus is on digitising pathological labs, skill building amongst existing lab technicians and ensuring that the infrastructure is suitable for world class diagnostic tests to be launched in India," Subramanyam said.

India is definitely a significant market for the company. It is one of the high growth markets in Asia-Pacific, he added.

Roche Diagnostics India started its operations in January 2002 and provides diagnostic testing for early detection, evaluation and monitoring of diseases in the country. Currently, it is estimated to have around 14 per cent of the in vitro diagnostics market share in India.