The country’s largest private healthcare provider, Apollo Hospitals, recently roped in Ashok Khar — a senior scientist associated with research institution Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) — to establish a centre dedicated to stem cell research and application in Hyderabad.
The centre aims to be the hub of all applied stem cell research to happen within Apollo group of hospitals, and has prioritised four areas — cardiovascular diseases (CVD), spinal injuries, stroke and basic research in stem cell activity — for applied research.
Khar’s team is busy standardising the protocols that need to be followed in each case and has applied for government funding for its first project, on CVD.
“The application of the technology happens in hospitals. My centre (Cell & Molecular Biology Research Centre) is the research unit,” Khar says, adding that the Apollo policy does not permit charging patients who undergo clinical trials. “All these therapies will be categorised as trials and will clear all necessary ethical approvals. We are also seeking government support, as such therapies may cost about Rs 12 lakh,” he says.
Khar’s entry into the corporate world is indicative of the manner in which cell therapy, an evolving area of medical treatment globally, is fast becoming the next frontier for India’s private heathcare players.
For instance, Fortis, the second-biggest private hospital chain after Apollo, has an exclusive tie-up with US-based TotipotentRx, a cell therapy company, for this. Fortis has already had a couple of successful stem cell therapies to its credit, thanks to its neurosurgical unit at one of its Delhi hospitals.
“We have just entered the area of stem cell therapies. We want to ensure patient safety and carry out ethical treatment,” Rajen Ghadiok, vice-president (medical strategy and operations), Fortis, says.
According to him, therapies like bone marrow transplant are acceptable the world over and no longer fit into the realm of clinical trials.
Ken Harris, chairman of TotipotentRx, says India should frame laws that regulate such therapies. “In the US, hospitals can charge their patients even for clinical trials, if they do not have big commercial applications,” he reasons.
Naresh Trehan, chairman of Delhi-based Medanta Medicity, says his hospital is also active in stem cell therapy research in cardiovascular diseases. He, however, is against charging patients undergoing clinical trials.
It is not just the leading healthcare players that are in the race to establish stem cell research and therapy wings. Delhi-based business conglomerate, RJ Corp, which runs a cord blood stem cell bank, is also planning to set up a stem cell research centre in Gurgaon.
The centre, to come up as a wholly owned subsidiary of RJ Corp, will promote stem cell research and therapy among clinicians in leading hospitals in and around Delhi, Dhara Jaipuria, its promoter, said. The new company, named “Reviva Cell” is part of RJ Corp’s long-term plans to expand its presence in healthcare sector within the country and abroad.
“Our research centre will be a back-up for hospitals’ cell therapy programmes. Reviva will carry out cell culture, cell differentiation and expansion. It will also venture into manufacturing of cell products in future,” C V Nerikar, CEO of Cryobanks International India, said.
RJ Corp has a technology partnership with US-based Davinchi Labs Research and Therapies for the new venture.
As TotipotentRx’s Harris points out, the market for stem cell therapy is just emerging. And, it’s not just the hospitals, but also cord-blood banks, research institutes and contract research/clinical research organisations, that are going to see tremendous business opportunities in stem cells.
Health ministry officials were not very enthusiastic about the “therapies” that happening by using stem cells. “Stem cell research is still in its infancy. It is too early to speak about the real merits of such therapies. None of these treatments should be charged and should be strictly considered clinical trials,” a senior official said.
