Lifesciences and clinical genomics company Strand Life Sciences has partnered with the Mazumdar-Shaw Medical Foundation (MSMF) to set up a lab that aims to bring down the cost of detecting cancer.

Called Strand at Mazumdar-Shaw (SAMS) lab, it aims to bring down costs by as much as ₹40,000. “Currently, the cost of cancer-related diagnostics can be in the range of ₹50,000-100,000 and we want to bring it down to ₹10,000-20,000,” Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon, told Business Line .

MSMF, is an NGO, which counts Devi Shetty, founder of Narayana Health and Shaw as founders, has been set up to find out ways to make cancer-related research and treatments more affordable to people.

Genomics is a discipline that uses DNA sequencing methods and bioinformatics to determine the structure of genomes, which is a genetic material of an organism.

Genomic testing

As a part of this tie-up, Strand will offer genomic testing for cancer and other germline or hereditary conditions. Further, Strand has developed an affordable hereditary breast cancer diagnostic test that will cost significantly less than comparable tests available in the West and India, according to company officials.

In addition, the collaboration will promote research in the field of genomics, conducting medical and non-medical programs, seminars and talks shows, assisting clinicians and scientists in performing quality research, and towards making genomics research resources and data available to scientists. This is a major milestone towards enabling an ecosystem of personalised medical treatment for patients with cancer and other genetic diseases, said Vijay Chandru, Chairman & CEO, Strand Life Sciences.

Personalised care

Recently, IBM and New York Genome Centre tested a Watson prototype designed specifically for genomic research as a tool to help oncologists deliver more personalised care to cancer patients.

Nearly seven lakh Indians die of cancer every year, while over 10 lakh are newly diagnosed with some form of the disease, as per estimates. Further, according to the latest World Cancer Report from the World Health Organisation, there were over 4.77 lakh men and 5.37 lakh women diagnosed with cancer in India in 2012.

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