Roche Diagnostics today announced the appointment of Lance Little as the chairman and managing director of Roche Diagnostics India and South Asia. In his new role, Little will oversee operations in the Indian sub-region which includes the neighboring markets of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. Little joins the India operations from New Zealand where he served as managing director of Roche Diagnostics New Zealand.

Speaking of his recent appointment Little said, “India is a dynamic and evolving market with expanding healthcare needs and quality requirements. Roche Diagnostics, with our decade-long experience in the market, is well-positioned to meet those needs and I am thrilled about the opportunity to lead the next evolution of our business in India.”

As the India and South Asia head, Little will be responsible for the overall business which includes centralized diagnostics, a mainstay of diagnostics labs and hospitals, molecular diagnostics, tissue diagnostics, applied science, and near patient testing. Little’s primary areas of focus will be on supporting India’s healthcare expansion by providing hospitals and labs across the country with quality diagnostic products, services and solutions that meet their diverse needs. Roche Diagnostics will also continue to deliver high medical value tests to help improve people’s health and foster innovation by developing local talent.

A Roche Diagnostics veteran, Little has been with the company for over 18 years. Throughout his career both in laboratories and commercial environments, Little has witnessed the revolution of diagnostics from a largely manual process to a highly automated system.

“For the past decade, Roche Diagnostics India has been at the forefront of the automation revolution that is helping labs of all sizes in India improve their testing efficiency, eliminate potential risk of human error and ensure quality control of test results,” said Little. “Beyond that, our products and solutions are helping India manage some of its most pressing health issues. For example, we have developed advanced technology for blood screening that ensures safe blood for patients in need of transfusion, as well as a new high-risk HPV test designed to prevent cervical cancer which is the number one cancer killer of women in India.”

Working in both developed and high-growth markets, Little has also seen the evolution of a laboratory from simply providing a diagnosis to becoming a comprehensive consulting and disease management solution.

“Labs are no longer simply providing disease diagnoses,” said Little. “They are now involved in consultations on personalized treatment recommendations for patients and support ongoing disease monitoring to ensure the treatment is working. As India’s healthcare needs continue to evolve and expand, Roche’s diagnostics technologies will continue to grow with it and provide innovative solutions to meet market needs.”

Little started his career as a Medical Laboratory Scientist, specializing in Biochemistry at the Auckland Hospital Laboratory in New Zealand. He holds a degree specializing in Clinical Biochemistry. In 1995, Little joined Boehringer Mannheim, where he was responsible for technical support and management of the Clinical Chemistry portfolio and ultimately the launch and introduction of the Modular product line into the New Zealand laboratories. From this time until 2008, he was the Head of the Laboratory Systems Business, responsible for all Centralized Laboratory businesses as well as Roche Applied Science. In 2008, Little assumed the role of Managing Director of Roche Diagnostics Thailand before returning to New Zealand as Managing Director.