Transasia develops testing device for TB

Hyderabad: Mumbai-based Transasia Bio-Medicals, a leading maker of medical diagnostics devices, on Thursday unveiled MX 16, a molecular testing device which it claims will accurately detect tuberculosis (TB) at cheaper cost.

Developed by Erba Molecular, a UK-based subsidiary of Transasia, the medical device will be manufactured at the company's fourth plant at Daman near Mumbai.

"At present, TB tests cost anywhere between Rs 4,500 to Rs 5,000. With our device, we can bring down the cost to around Rs 1,000. Further, MX 16 can carry 400 tests a day," Suresh Vazirani, Chairman & Managing Director, Transasia-Erba International group, told the media here.

The product was launched at 50th Union World Conference on Lung Health and TB currently underway in the city, marking the company's foray into Rs 300 crore molecular diagnostics space in India.

According to him, the medical device will be beneficial to India, which has the highest burden of TB and drug-resistant TB - one in four TB patient globally are in India.

"Also, 89 per cent of affected individuals in India are in the productive age group 15-69, which makes it a critical national health issue to be addressed.

Though TB incidence in India has been declining at 1.7 per cent annually since 2016, it is estimated that it needs to fall by 10 per cent annually to reach the central government's 2025 goal of ending TB in the country," he said.

Dr Laurence Tisi, president, Erba Molecular, said: "Our technology makes molecular diagnostics less complex and replaces the age-old smear microscopy method for TB detection.

With 75% reduction in processing time and the ability to run 16 samples concurrently, MX 16 allows for faster turnaround time".