The India Business Excellence Fund-III, a fund managed and advised by Motilal Oswal Private Equity, has decided to invest up to Rs 240 crore in Molbio Diagnostics, a Goa-based research-driven diagnostic firm, according to a company statement.
Molbio along with its subsidiary Bigtec Labs, has developed and commercialised Truenat, which is claimed to be the world's first commercial point-of-care molecular diagnostics platform using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) technology.
Truenat can diagnose 22 infectious diseases (like TB, H1N1, dengue, HIV and hepatitis) and has a pipeline of additional 43 diseases (such as coronavirus and MERS), Motilal Oswal PE, which manages over Rs 7,000 crore across growth capital funds and real estate funds, said in the statement on Wednesday.
Set up in 2000, Molbio and Bigtec have spent 18 years on research and development, collaborated with reputed institutions across the globe such as CSIR, ICMR, BIRAC, Grand Challenges Canada, BMGF and FIND to develop and deploy molecular diagnostics in resource-limited settings.
Truenat assays tests and offers results within 60 minutes at affordable cost. The equipment is battery-operated and can be used in peripheral centres without extensive infrastructure.
Under the national strategic plan for TB elimination, the government plans to set up over 8,000 molecular labs and diagnose over 1.5 crore patients annually using molecular tests by 2025. Truenat devices are in use at over 500 private labs and 350 primary health centres in the country and across the 27 countries.
India is home to the highest TB patients across the globe and nearly 1,400 people die of TB every day.