April 17, 2003
Source: Times of India
bioMerieux and Avestha TB project in Bangalore

By Satya Prakash Singh & Darlington Jose Hector

The one billion euro French biotechnology giant, bioMerieux, in collaboration with Avesthagen, is setting up a global research project in Bangalore to develop diagnostic solutions for Tuberculosis (TB).

The collaborative project currently on the drawing board stage will involve scientists and researchers from bioMerieux's Bangalore centre, its main research centre in Marcy (France) and Avesthagen in Bangalore.

The research will be to develop a diagnostic tool embedded with a microchip, designed to identify the relevant TB strain.

The project will involve research in three areas of TB, including diagnostic, therapy and monitoring. Clinical diagnosis is an essential element in the management of healthcare that involves confirmation of diagnosis, choice of therapy and prevention.

Avestha Gengraine CEO Villoo Moravalla Patell told this newspaper that the research alliance will be for a period of two years, initially. "We have been talking for a year to forge this alliance," she said.

Rekha Khanna, COO of bioMerieux India, said the final blueprint of the project will be ready by June this year. Though bioMerieux has 14 research sites all over the world, this will be its first TB diagnostic centre.

Khanna said the solutions would help control TB in countries like India, China, Russia and other South-East Asian countries. According to WHO, three out of the four TB cases are found in South East Asia. Last year, India alone had reported 6 million TB cases.

Khanna said the company chose India due to the availability of a well informed medical and scientific community here with whom it would work.

bioMerieux has been doing collaborative research with the Indian healthcare community under the 'bioMerieux touch' programme.