PerkinElmer India Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the US based PerkinElmer Inc, a global technology leader in health sciences and photonics, unveiled its latest generation of products as part of its expansion plan for the fast growing Indian life science and instrumentation market.

The company has launched Raman Station 400 spectrophotometer, which uses unique technology for identification of channels used in explosives, narcotics and counterfeiting. It has also entered into a tie-up with Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for pilot project on genetic screening in India.

Highlighting the company's India specific business plans, Gregory L Summe, chairman and chief executive officer, PerkinElmer Inc, said, "The combination of our products, our applications expertise and our service capabilities are unmatched in the industry and we believe that they will enable us to achieve our ultimate objective, which is helping our Indian customers improve the quality of life for its people."

According to Jai Shankar, president, PerkinElmer India, "The company is expanding its product base in India which would help scientists advance the space and precision of research and testing in a wide range of markets."

Announcing the company's tie up with ICMR, whereby research on genetic screening of newborns will be conducted at five centres spanning Kolkata, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, Jai Shankar said that PerkinElmer would be presenting a white paper on genetic screening for India once ICMR furnishes the critical data.

Emphasizing on the importance of genetic screening Jai Shankar said that prenatal and new born screening will be the country's most critical areas of health concern since the percentage of genetic disorders in India is very high. "Pre-natal and neo-natal screening has been widely adopted by most countries in Europe and globally, with PerkinElmer screening almost four million infants annually in US alone", he said.

PerkinElmer Inc had recently acquired the remaining minority interest in PerkinElmer India Pvt Ltd from Labinda Instruments Pvt Ltd making the Indian outfit a wholly owned subsidiary. The company will further invest in India as part of its expansion plan in India. The company currently employs approximately 200 people in Bangalore, Baroda, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune and Thane.

"The expansion of our headquarters and the opening of our new technical and applications support centre reflect the growing demand for our health and environmental sciences solutions in India, which itself is a reflection of the advances the country is making in its healthcare systems and environmental infrastructure", added Gregory L Summe.