Bhat Biotech has planned an investment of Rs 2 crore to further expand its infrastructure and business after it inked strategic alliances with global companies. The company is now working to commercialize its lab-on-a-chip and nanotech embedded kits.

The funds sourced through internal accruals are for equipment installation, setting up an animal facility, tissue culture centre, monoclonal antibody research lab and development of polymer sensor diagnostics.

The 16-year-old diagnostic CE certified company develops kits for pregnancy, HIV, Hep B, malaria, Chikungunya, Dengue and H1N1 among others. It is a key players in India through over 100 channel partners and exports to 40 countries. To keep pace with the advanced technology and to streamline its operations, nine dedicated divisions are created: diagnostics, life sciences and research reagents, contract manufacture, molecular diagnostics, polymeric sensor, contract research, bio-pharmaceuticals and animal studies.

In order increase its competitiveness, the Life Sciences and Research Reagents division has inked marketing alliances with Norgean, Canada, GenKan, Germany and NRL, USA.

Under its Polymeric Sensor initiative, the company teamed-up with Prof. AQ Contractor’s incubation centre in IIT-Mumbai to develop nano-diagnostics. It is marketing the novel ‘Polysense Aqua’ kit to test water which will be followed by a soil test apparatus. The healthcare kit for multiple disease testing under trials has the ability to assess any where between 7-20 blood parameters. “The simple and wireless configured device will now change the face of diagnostics in rural healthcare settings too”, Dr Shama Bhat, chairman and managing director, Bhat Bio-Tech India told Pharmabiz.

Number of pathology labs, patient affordability, growing awareness on preventive & insurance-related health-checks, improved hospital infrastructure and the increased disease patterns spur the growth of Indian diagnostic sector. Therefore, in order to provide quality diagnostics which will help create affordable healthcare, our future focus is on Molecular Diagnostics, he added.

The company’s H1N1 kit validated by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, is ready for market. It also launched the Bhat Gluco Scan manufactured under contract competing with J&J, Span Diagnostics, Piramal Healthcare, Tulip Diagnostics in the Rs 100 crore home-based diabetic test market for 50 million diabetics here.

The growing interest for animal research from India has led the company to set-up an animal facility with mice, rats and rabbits to carry out pathological studies, polyclonal and monoclonal antibody production, besides special animal studies in association with NRL, USA.

In order to support the growing biotech sector with industry-ready professionals, it is now offering short-term and comprehensive training from this year which has attracted 15 biotech graduates and post graduates.

Ending fiscal 2009-10, it clocked a turnover of Rs 13 crore with over 30 per cent of revenues from outsourcing business. “We hope to generate Rs. 22 crore next year from our new initiatives,” stated Dr Bhat.