OncQuest Laboratories Ltd (formerly Dabur OncQuest) formally announced its existence as an independent entity moving away from being a part of Dabur Pharma Ltd, effective December 31, 2007. OncQuest Laboratories Limited was incorporated in January 2008.

OncQuest's new technologically advanced clinical and research laboratory is fully equipped with molecular technologies allowing for rapid advancement in the complex field of proteomics, genomics, and bioinformatics. OncQuest is unique in South East Asia with its singular focus on Clinical Oncology Diagnostics. The new integrated research facility provides a strong foundation for OncQuest to grow within the field of Genetic Oncology. The laboratory is equipped to provide the most advanced protein/antibody and nucleic acid based diagnostic and prognostic tests for accurate diagnosis and management of cancer.

The objective of this venture is to provide world class, yet cost-effective molecular diagnostic services in India. These ambitions are a significant part of the driving force behind OncQuest's research, and quality driven approach. With its network of Authorized Collection Centers (ACC), OncQuest maintains accredited Quality Assurance protocols from the clinical setting to the central laboratory which is located in New Delhi, within walking distance of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Safdarjung Hospital.

OncQuest Laboratories plans to strengthen its presence in the global Contract Research Organization (CRO) field and has been in Clinical Trial (CT) support testing for the last two years. This area of business has been growing substantially year after year and has contributed 20 per cent to the turnover of OncQuest. The management envisages this to move closer to 80 per cent in the next five-year period.

Talking about the new entity, Aditya C Burman, managing director, OncQuest laboratories Ltd said, "We have been thinking about increasing our footprint on the molecular diagnostics space for global Contract Research Organizations for a while now. One of the initial roadblocks has been the concerns of these CROs and pharmaceutical companies in inking a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with a business unit of a pharmaceutical company. Hence, OncQuest Laboratories came into being in order to facilitate faster growth in the CRO business space. This has also given us an opportunity to look at higher investments towards people and technology, along with optimization of existing facilities and infrastructure."

Dabur OncQuest's Surgical Pathology, Flowcytometry, Immunohistochemistry and PCR assays have been accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration of Laboratories (NABL) in accordance with ISO 15189:2003. NABL is an autonomous body under the aegis of the Department of Science and Technology, which the Government of India, has authorized as the sole accreditation body for Medical Testing and Calibration of laboratories in India.

On the International accreditation front, OncQuest has successfully applied for Accreditation from College of American Pathologists (CAP); the Audit is scheduled for the second half of the fiscal year 2008~2009.

The company has tie-ups with almost 100 major hospitals across the country including the Apollo group Hospitals, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, AIIMS, Batra Cancer Hospital, Tata Memorial Hospital Mumbai, Kidwai Institute Bangalore, Bangalore Institute of Oncology, Indo American Hospital Hyderabad etc. OncQuest also receives walk-in patients, from various parts of the country, to its collection centers.

Currently, OncQuest has its presence in 45 locations covering all major Indian cities. The company believes that it has its market mapping and logistic infrastructure in place to further venture into several areas of cancer biology including cancer caused by infectious agents like HIV (Kaposi's Sarcoma) and Hepatitis (Hepatocellular carcinoma). Kaposi sarcoma is a cancer of blood vessels that was considered very rare before the start of the AIDS pandemic. It is now the most frequent cancer to develop in people with AIDS, affecting about 20 per cent overall (The new 2008 estimates released by the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), supported by UNAIDS and WHO, indicate that national adult HIV prevalence in India is approximately 0.36 per cent, which corresponds to an estimated 3.2 million to 5.2 million people living with HIV in the country. According to WHO globally we have about 50 million people living with HIV in 2008)

Hepatocellular carcinoma risk is higher in patients of cirrhosis caused by viral infections compared to non-viral causes. In different Indian studies, almost half of HCC patients have underlying HBV infection; while over a quarter have HCV infection Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity in Indian HCC patients varies from 36 per cent to 74 per cent, with an average of 47 per cent. It is estimated that nearly 42.5 million people in India are HBsAg positive. The prevalence of anti HCV antibody in the Indian population varies from 0.3 per cent to 1.8 per cent.