NEWS MAKERS

SURESH VAZIRANI Founder Chairman Transasia-erba International Group of Companies

Your key innovative business approach which has been helping you to stay afloat or mitigate risk during the year 2021?

While companies were hoping for some respite after a challenging 2020, India was hit by a disastrous second wave of the pandemic. Most organizations, who were struggling to be back in business and start routine operations, were hit hard. On our part, we used this challenging time to find newer ways to serve our country by helping our 40,000 customers, who are labs and hospitals, take better care of COVID patients. Some of these initiatives were: Seamless service

- At the Transasia-erba group, we recognize our responsibility towards doctors, to aid in providing the best patient care. Our global teams, have been working through the pandemic to ensure we provide uninterrupted services in manufacturing, assistance for installing new instruments and after-sales service to minimize downtime in a laboratory. Digitization

- Integration of AI technologies with our fully automated analyzers have facilitated remote monitoring for preventive maintenance of the instruments. Developing customized plug-in modules for labs have helped in faster generation of patient reports and optimizing lab efficiencies.

Scaling up the manufacturing capability

In order to meet the demands from the labs across India, Transasia further expanded its manufacturing capability at the AMTZ, Vizag plant by rolling out the first batch of Erba EM 200, fully automated clinical chemistry analyzer at the facility.

Meeting the government needs for diagnostic instrumentsTrans asia partners with various central and state government institutes on an on-going basis to meet their need for diagnostic instrument and test kits.

Strengthening the leadership position - As a part of its business strategy, Transasia has focused on transforming the human dimension of the enterprise and strengthening its leadership portfolio with expert talent from the industry.

Economics is on a recovery path…what are points of reference for business planning and forecast?

The pandemic has highlighted the critical role of diagnostics in disease prevention. Access to diagnostics will deepen beyond the tier I and II cities. As the market leader in India, we consider it our duty to provide all that a pathology lab requires for providing affordable diagnostic services. Our goal is to become a Total Solutions provider to Indian labs.

We have a renewed focus on innovation and improving access to high medical value diagnostic tests. We are looking forward to launching exciting new products by 2023. Our R&D labs in France, UK, USA, Austria and India will launch over 10 state-of-the-art analyzers in CLIA, molecular, high-end hematology, AI and LIS. We are looking at deploying digital innovations to enable more affordable and equitable health care beyond the pandemic. Our focus will also be on introducing testing kits for infectious diseases. Also in the offing is a ‘Total Lab Automation’ solution aimed at mid- and large size laboratories. All these will make Transasia-erba among the top-five companies globally to have ‘Total solutions in Laboratory Diagnostics.’

Diagnostics is the first step in the treatment journey not just during a pandemic but also for NCDS and other infectious diseases. But countries like India lack funding to process affordable access to quality diagnostics. How does Transasia play a role in bridging this gap?

In the last two years, Transasia has strengthened India’s diagnostic capacity by introducing kits for COVID-19 testing and surveillance. We first launched the Erbalisa COVID-19 IGG ELISA kit, followed by the Erba MDX COVID-19 RT PCR kit and recently the Erbaqik COVID-19 Ag test kit for rapid screening of all variants including Omicron.

Besides this, we also increased the availability of test kits for significant vital parameters such as D Dimer, CRP and Ferritin to monitor disease severity. We strongly believe in embracing a future-ready mindset and designing offerings to address the future needs of customers. Going forward, the focus will be back on infectious diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis, malaria and dengue, among others. Transasia already offers affordable, ELISA and rapid test kits for these infections. We recently introduced Erbalisa HCV Gen 4 Ag+ab, India’s first and only indigenously developed 4th generation ELISA assay for early detection of Hepatitis C Virus. Transasia also introduced the Erbaqik rapid test kit for four critical infections namely HIV, HBSAG, HCV and Syphilis.

These kits offer high quality at an affordable cost and are being made available to labs in metros and rural towns across the country, through Transasia’s wide network.

How do you see 2022 as a new ray of hope in healthcare and diagnostics in particular?

The pandemic brought a strong realization to every country about the crucial importance of diagnostics in a country's healthcare system. There can be no healthcare system without diagnostics.

The diagnostic industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the country at the moment and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 20% over the next five years. A shift in mind set towards disease awareness and early detection is creating opportunities for innovation to meet the high demands.

2022 will see an increasing number of labs being equipped to do more in less time. The focus will be on digitization and lab automation to create an ecosystem where patient data can transit seamlessly between pathologists and specialists.

Advanced testing methods such as molecular testing will be adopted for infectious diseases and made accessible and affordable to a larger population. The year will also see an exponential growth in the use of mobile-based health monitoring systems and small hand-held devices. Point-ofcare testing continues to gain popularity for being convenient and cost-effective and giving faster results.

The entry of pharmaceutical companies and large corporate chain hospitals in the diagnostic arena as laboratory service providers, is already enabling greater accessibility.

Now more than ever before, the role of the government is getting highlighted for the urgent need to increase its spending on free diagnostics for all Indians. Public-private partnerships are gaining ground and scaling up screening and diagnostic opportunities. Transasia already collaborates with various state and central government institutes to offer superior products to optimize workflow and expedite clinical decision making. Transasia with its five global R&D centres and manufacturing facilities in India, Europe and USA is today well prepared to support the 1,00,000 pathology labs in India for providing innovative and affordable diagnostic services to our fellow Indians.

Bright side of 2021: Your key innovative business approach which has been helping you to stay afloat or mitigate risk during the year 2021?

In the last two years, being a digital-first brand has been very helpful to us because we saw a massive surge in website traffic during the pandemic as we more than tripled our daily active user count. And we see this journey continuing post-pandemic as well, because we continued to sustain the traffic even after lockdowns were lifted and normalcy ensued.

Along with solidifying the health infrastructure in smaller centres by helping setting up diagnostics, dialysis centres, dental clinics and improving imaging and testing capabilities in these towns, we are also looking to expand our existing operations in international markets like the Middle-east, South and South-east Asia, and Africa. With over 100,000 established corporates, hospitals and government, over 150,000 individual small buyers and more than 15,000 seller partners already on-board, we are looking to achieve 300% growth through FY 2021-22. We aim to hit a $1 billion valuation in this calendar year 2022.

You are the father of digital transformation into healthcare logistics and technology sector. Please elaborate your innovation in this sector?

Medikabazaar is revolutionising healthcare through our various offerings that each combat the core problems of inaccessibility, unavailability and unaffordability that plagues Indian healthcare. We offer much more than just a marketplace in the form of our technological product offerings. Our marketplace is dedicated to making healthcare procurement easier, smarter and more efficient for hospitals and medical establishments, which

would in turn help them provide care facilities at better prices for patients. The marketplace started with a few thousand products, but now hosts the largest catalogue of medical, dental and veterinary supplies, consumables, equipment and other devices, running up to more than 700,000 SKUS, serving over 18 countries, more than 200,000 customers. We have successfully delivered over 500 million units to more than 20,000 pin codes across India. We are powering over 200,000 Medical establishments and healthcare professionals globally. We are helping hospitals unlock savings of up to 30% with smart-decision making tools like VPO and the patent-recognised AI-ML based inventory management system VIZI. At Medikabazaar AI, we identify emerging technology opportunities that can benefit the businesses and healthcare organisations. We are developing cutting-edge research and technology to leverage these opportunities and help businesses. We're conducting research, applying AI to products and to new domains, and developing tools to ensure that we leverage technology to transform the industry.

With the help of finance partners, Medikabazaar is assisting healthcare providers set up hospitals with smart and easy payment options like Revolving Credit, No Cost EMI, Long Term Asset Financing and more. And with our asset lifecycle mana

You have done many awareness program and seminars , please let us know about latest awareness program on TV?

As part of our responsibility to bring Healthcare sector related issues, challenges, opportunities, technological advancements, new interventions and global perspectives to the discussion table for entire Healthcare fraternity, devised an industry-first initiative with a television series ‘Transforming Healthcare’. It went on air on leading business news channel CNBC-TV18 from 26th December 2021. The series covers various aspects of the Healthcare sector and covers top industry leaders discussing the various issues impacting the Indian healthcare industry and how it can transform to succeed in the new normal.

The healthcare sector has seen a massive disruption in the last two years in terms of adoption of technology, changing policies and digital shift to pursue the greater common good. There is a crucial need to improve the healthcare infrastructure in the country and create better access of quality healthcare services. ‘Transforming Healthcare’ features key stakeholders from India’s Healthcare sector who share their perspective on how they are adapting to India’s changing Healthcare Landscape and the measures, systems and technologies that are enabling the vision of a Healthy India. Backed by deep research, every episode of the show throws new light on how the healthcare industry is transforming. Each episode features context-based and meaningful curated content that is enriched by enlightening infographics and insightful conversations with top leaders of the industry.

Economics is on recovery path, so what are point for reference for business planning and forecast?

In 2021, Indian startups have seen an investment of over $34 billion, marking a substantially massive growth as opposed to the total investment of $12 billion in 2020. The steady and persistent growth witnessed in the startup industry is all set to accelerate further in the coming times. This growth is also a key marker of growth that we are going to witness and businesses and industry. I expect the startup ecosystem to become the next big driver of Indian economy by attracting soaring investments, generate employment opportunities, and usher in formalisation and expansion of our economy through digitalisation.

Sometimes we win, sometimes we learn, what are you key achievements and learning in the year 2021?

Our key achievements were supporting India during the biggest healthcare crises it has witnessed in over 50 years, by rising beyond our call of duty and delivering results and crucial life-saving drugs, equipment, consumables and diagnostics in farthest of India’s corners. Besides reacting to the crises, Medikabazaar has also been able to introduce and lead with pre-emptive and preventive measures like designing critical care packages to bridge the critical care unit gap with Medikabazaar’s ICU Packages for Adults and Children, bring Korea’s leading Point-of-care testing solutions to the Indian market, alongside helping a corporate group’s cancer foundation to set up over 13 cancer hospitals in tier-2 and -3 towns like Tirupati, Ranchi, Dibrugarh, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Tezpur, Silchar, Darrang, Jorhat, Chandrapur.

Our key learning has been that embracing technology is truly the way forward for Indian and universal healthcare. Harnessing the power of technology can pave the way for stronger, accessible and more affordable health infrastructure.

Do you see 2022 as a new ray of hope in Healthcare?

As the Indian government aims to increase healthcare spending to 2.5 percent of GDP, the Indian healthcare industry is set to reach the unprecedented levels of $372 billion by 2022. This rise is facilitated by the Government of India’s groundbreaking policies adapted for healthcare transformation and the surge in India’s digital connectivity. This digital connectivity, in conjunction with continuous technological advancement in healthcare and the launch of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will ensure improved and enhanced availability of preventive care, diagnostics, imaging and treatment facilities even in the remotest of corners.