Cost of tests is a major hurdle
Geno mic sis a very important development in healthcare. This is a huge unmet need in ourcountry, consideringthe population number and also the aspirational population. This industry is challenging to succeedin. Thebusiness model for Med Genome includes the development of good quality and cost effective ge no mi cs testing. This includes partnering with various stakeholders, including academic institutions. Thishelpsthemto develop tests in real and unmet need areas, in a cost effective manner. They also cater to the need of patients abroad, helpingensure revenueflow. Thiscanbe scaled up with some work in Indiaandabroad. Atpresent, qualityand cost-effective tests are tough
todevelop. Costhasbeenthe main reason which has led to under-use of these tests in the practice. There are challenges in this field. Abroad, thechallenges are of an already existing organisation which have a lead over Med Genome. This is tough to break into but everywhere in the world, cost has been a big issue in health care. If cost is maintained low in the development of tests, they will be able to break into many markets in the world.
It is also important that the USFoodandDrug Administration( FDA) has started giving a label to these tests. It will be important that these tests may start applying forFDAlabels, whichcould give a huge boost to their scalability. Currently, inIndia, they develop tests where a huge component has re agents thatareimported. Ifthesecan be replaced by re agents developed in India, the cost cutting could be huge. We have seen this in China.