India is becoming a hub for specialised medical testing and samples from countries without certain diagnostic capabilities are shipped to India for processing, says Ameera Shah, Promoter and Managing Director, Metropolis Healthcare, drawing a parallel with medical tourism.

Just as overseas patients come to hospitals in India, in this case, it’s the samples that are transported, she said, pointing to the trend. A few large organised pathology networks also operate in this segment, Shah said, adding “we are definitely going out there now and trying to get more countries and more labs to send specialised samples to us in India. So, that’s definitely more of an active effort.”

Presently, Metropolis is supporting countries including Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Middle East, Central Asia, some places in Southeast Asia and Africa, she said. “All of these markets around India which are not as developed as the US or Australia or UK... we are trying to make India as the hub for supporting all of them,” she said.

Wide range

Outlining the range of tests on offer, she said, there are about 4,000 types including known ones like CBC, sugar, kidney/liver profile, etc — forming the top 50 tests. The complex ones involve cancer, stroke, neurological / gastrointestinal disorders, transplantation patients, she added. But there are tests that help diagnose a particular problem and treat it, including genomics, moleculargenomics, genetics, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, advanced microbiology. These fall in the specialised and super-specialised category, because it requires not just large volumes to effectively utilise these machines and instruments, but skilled people, as well, she explained. Experts are needed in subjects including neurology, oncology, stroke, etc, who can interpret data that comes from the machine.

It involves a combination of machines, skilled people and the right processes and protocol to interpret the data correctly, she explained.

Metropolis has five labs in Africa and about 80 percent of testing is done there locally, she said, with the remaining samples sent to India. Metropolis’ international business accounts for about 8 percent of its revenues, she added.

Expansion

Back home, the company has increased its footprint in India from about 380 towns in April 2023 to being in close to 600 towns and cities, in March 2024, she said. The Indian diagnostics market is estimated at ₹1,01,000 crore, with pathology at ₹58,000 crore, the rest being the radiology segment.

Metropolis, once in the headlines for reportedly scouting for a strategic investor, is now looking for ”quality acquisitions”, in terms of geographical expansion or technology, she said.

Metropolis’ revenues for the year ended March 2023, stood at ₹1,066 crore. It’s revenues in the three months ended December 2023 stood at ₹291 crore (as compared to ₹285 crore in the same period, last year). Profit after tax was down about 24 percent in this period, at ₹27 crore, due to a government contract running its course, she said.

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