Beyond Biotec 2018, the first ever medical industry event highlighting successful commercial innovations in the private sector biotechnology space, along with opportunities for research, was opened by President Maithripala Sirisena and Minister of Health, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute last week.
The Vice-Chairman of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Ms Preetha Reddy was also present. Beyond Biotec 2018 also marks the collaboration between the Apollo Hospitals Group, India’s largest integrated healthcare provider and Sri Lanka’s Credence Genomics in a milestone venture whereby a portfolio of cutting edge diagnostic services for infectious diseases will be offered to patients in India starting with Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
The new line of tests are being offered in partnership with Credence Genomics, a collaboration which is the first of its kind nationally, and are based on a specialized DNA diagnostics platform offering faster and more precise diagnosis.
This is a landmark achievement for Sri Lanka and augurs well for the future prospects of Sri Lanka’s medical fraternity as well as medical tourism, Credence Genomics Director/ CEO Dr. Vaz Gnanam said.
“Beyond Biotec is an industry event for the private enterprise development. As a company we have invested and innovated a series of products. Apollo Hospitals have done a survey for its products. An agreement has been reached to do five sites in India and the fist will be in Chennai. “We have already initiated a site. This is the first time for Sri Lanka. This will be a new chapter in medical tourism in the country. Credence Genomics has truly highlighted Sri Lanka’s capacity for science, medicine, information technology and innovation. We are a 100% Sri Lankan team and we are happy to be able to highlight our capabilities along with our representation of the country”, he said.
The investment in this project is US $ 2-3 million. Apollo Hospitals, Vice Chairman Dr Preetha Reddy said, “Biotec provides rapid awareness for deep seated diseases. We are right now doing validating study on 500 patients and will be in operation shortly.
“We are convinced about the technology and the outcome of the study, The response from the medical fraternity is very good and encouraging. There is a collaboration centre to facilitate the diagnosis tests on patients from other hospitals as well,” she said.
Beyond Biotec 2018 is sponsored by Credence Genomics, Sri Lanka’s pioneering clinical genomics company and its Indian subsidiary Micro Genomics (India), along with Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science.
Conceived by Dr. Vaz Gnanam in 2011, Credence Genomics is a Sri Lankan establishment pioneering in the development of leading-edge innovations on specialized DNA diagnostics based on the next generation sequencing (NGS) platform with intensive research infrastructure and capabilities. The company launched its first set of products in 2015.