IVD INDUSTRY: JATIN MAHAJAN TRANSFORMATIONAL ROLE OF J MITRA & CO
At around US$ 300 billion, the Indian healthcare industry is one of the biggest revenue generators. Diagnostics, medical tourism, and telemedicine are the most significant contributor to this growth, with the diagnostics segment itself growing at a rate of over 20%. In addition, diagnostics account for over 70% of all treatment decisions, making it the key driver for healthcare services.
India is a crucial influencer in the global diagnostics industry, especially as the international center for frugal medical devices engineering. India manufactures several indigenous (and lowcost) devices with global market potential. India is also the biggest exporter of IVD solutions across the world. But this was not the case in the 1950s and 60s. Then, MNC companies entirely dominated the Indian IVD space. These companies were directly exporting their IVD products into the country at exorbitant prices, and we had no other alternative. Circa 1969, the story changed.
Lalit Mahajan incorporated J Mitra & Co as a researchbased biotechnology company in the IVD segment in 1969. Lalit Mahajan identified the needgap and the customers' pain point and set upon himself the task of providing diagnostics kits of the highest quality standards at a pricing way lower than other available kits. The immunology segment in the rapid test format was limited to pregnancy tests. J Mitra & Co pioneered the development, manufacturing, and marketing of IVD test kits. It manufactured and introduced a range of tests for
infectious diseases like HIV, HBV, HCV, Dengue, Malaria, Typhoid, Leptospira in rapid and ELISA test formats. It also introduced antisera products and confirmatory tests like Western Blot for HIV. J Mitra was the first Indian company to get drug manufacturing licenses for critical tests in Rapid and Elisa formats like HIV, HBV, and HCV.
J Mitra was ranked 10th as per a research report conducted in 1996. This helped them to grasp the various areas for improvement and critical focus. This phase also marked the entry of Jatin Mahajan as the managing director of the company. A propeople approach coupled with the superiority of products marked an exponential growth of the company. J Mitra overtook all its competitors forcing them to close shop because they could no longer indulge in massive profiteering. As a result, J Mitra attained the numero uno position and catalyzed an enormous reduction in the overall pricing of tests in each category which provides a significant fillip to the quality standards – all these initiatives directly benefitted the Indian healthcare industry and the masses.
Taking the legacy forward, Jatin Mahajan, the current managing director, decided to break all formal boundaries through extensive R&D and aggressive global marketing. He identified newer arenas and product offerings to steer the company into a strategic growth path while maintaining its primary goal of being a socially conscious company working for the healthcare benefits of the masses. The focus always remained on supreme quality, affordable prices to consumers, reliability of products, and shortest possible turnaround time between test and results. He aggressively promoted the products portfolio across the world. As a result, the global markets opened their arms and hearts to J Mitra's excellent product offering. A numero uno position on a worldwide platform requires stringent quality controls that meet the regulation of not just Indian but global standards as well, and J Mitra meets all these exacting standards. They now export to over 45 countries – making them one of the highest exporters of IVD products from India.
J Mitra's R&D center is recognized by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India since 1987. They have one of the most extensive R&D facilities in their segment. All this helped J Mitra garner more than 55 patents (the highest for any Indian company), while another 20 are pending government ratification. Lalit Mahajan has been given the title of India's Patent King by the Wall Street Journal. He is also a distinguished alumni awardee by IIT Madras. Innovation is the driving force for J Mitra & Company. While the corona pandemic took everyone by surprise, J Mitra has played a preeminent role in helping track, monitor, and fight against the corona pandemic. Currently, they have the highest number of Covid19 test solutions in the Indian market.
Before this, J Mitra had launched India's first portable diagnostic solution the iquant immunoassay analyzer in collaboration with IIT Madras' HTIC (Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre). This portable stateoftheart Fluorescence Immunoassay Analyser provides quantitative and qualitative determination for nine blood test parameters. These include Dengue NS1, Dengue IGM, Dengue IGG, Hba1c, TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone), T3 (Triiodo thyronine), T4 (Thyroxin), Vitamin D, and CRP. Launched in 2010, J Mitra's Dengue Day 1 test (worldclass IVD product) still enjoys the no. 1 market share. In 1999, they introduced the technology of differential detection of HIV 1 and HIV 2 in a single rapid kit format, a product which still is the market leader after two decades.
J Mitra's efforts towards developing tests and analyzer platforms are driven by the need for precision and reliability, domestic production (selfreliant), affordability, and reaching closer to pointofcare. As a result, all J Mitra products are entirely developed and manufactured in India and exported worldwide. The company and its products have been showcasing stellar performance, decade after decade, for more than 50 years. As a result, they have cemented India's position on the global IVD map.
India is a crucial influencer in the global diagnostics industry, especially as the international center for frugal medical devices engineering.