Global healthcare services major, Thermo Fisher Scientific, will begin manufacturing COVID-19 RT-PCR test kits in India. The company inaugurated a new facility in Whitefield, near Bengaluru with a production capacity of 10 million tests per month.
"While the pandemic is on a down-swing and that is good news for everyone, the fact of the matter is that it is far from over," said Amit Chopra, managing director for India and the Middle East, Thermo Fisher Scientific, "As we bring our population back to work and move to normalcy, asymptomatic testing will become an important part of protocols. So, we believe that testing will remain with us for some time to come."
Chopra added that while the present investment was in molecular testing for COVID-19, Thermo Fisher’s infrastructure will also pave the way for innovations and technology for testing other illnesses at a molecular level.
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Thermo Fisher Scientific's RT-PCR test kit, CoviPath, the company said was made exclusively for the Indian market, with none of the units earmarked for exports. Earlier, Thermo Fisher Scientific sourced test kits from the United States.
"We cannot discuss localisation levels but suffice to say: this is a locally manufactured kit in India and for India," said Chopra. While he declined to reveal how much it invested towards the project, Chopra said Thermo Fisher Scientific had invested a total of $ 125 million in its India operations in the last decade.
The company added that the new kits have been designed keeping small labs and remote locations in mind — the kits are smaller, can be shipped in dry-ice, and require a storage temperature of just minus-80 degrees centigrade. CoviPath can also be used by diagnostics labs that do not necessarily own Thermo Fisher Scientific RT-PCR equipment.
The CoviPath kit is equipped to detect known variants of COVID-19, but separate diagnostic equipment will be required to pinpoint specific strains, which is part of Thermo Fisher Scientific’s product portfolio in India.
Globally, Thermo Fisher Scientific has invested nearly $ 1 billion in R&D and has reported nearly $ 30 billion in revenue last year, alone. The company accounts for over 50 percent of global testing, after having scaled up presence in high-growth markets, like India, South Asia and the Middle East.
The company is currently involved in 250 global partnerships, including ones with names like Astra Zeneca, for R&D and clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine.
(Edited by : Jomy)
First Published: Feb 16, 2021 5:55 PM IST
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