Genomics Market In India Expected To Grow At 18% Backed By Cost Effective Kits & Govt Initiatives: NRI Consulting

As per to leading consulting firm Nomura Research Institute (NRI) Consulting and Solutions India, the Indian genomic market in the country is expected to grow at 18% over the next five years, in tandem with the global genomics market growth. This is driven by the latest trends of test costs coming down and being affordable to the middle class and above. The entry of Reliance Life Sciences into the segment through the acquisition of a majority stake in Strand Life Sciences, as well as the latter's recent announcement of the launch of a cost-effective genomic kit, would significantly reduce costs and allow for greater adoption of the technology across the country.

The genomics market in the country is currently estimated to be worth around $60 million, which includes both wellness and diagnostic applications of genomics. "With costs falling and an enabling ecosystem being built up through government initiatives such as the Genome India Project and others, we expect the genomics market to grow at an 18% annual rate over the next five years," said Atreyi Dass, partner and group head at Nomura Research Institute (NRI) Consulting and Solutions India Pvt Ltd. According to a recent study by NRI Consulting and Solutions India, the current challenges in the genomics market are high costs and insufficient data.

Leading genomics companies currently offer whole genome sequencing services for $600-$1,000. There is also a dearth of adequate information about how specific genes are related to observable traits (phenotype) in the Indian population. Besides, there is a dearth of public lists of clinical significant variants in Indian patients, for several complex genetic diseases. This may lead to inefficient interpretation of genome tests leading to inaccurate diagnosis, it added. However, the affordable genomics kit and the government initiatives are expected to address these challenges in the future, said Dass. There has been an increasing trend in Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) lost due to non-communicable diseases in India as per World Health Organization (WHO). Another trend is in the increase in income – as per World Bank data, there has been a growth of 91% in the per capita income from 2009-2019. “Together, both these factors indicate the need as well as potential for consumers to spend on preventive healthcare. Thus technologies such as Genomics, when adopted successfully, are expected to see considerable market growth,” she added. Commenting on the policy initiatives, she said that advancement of genomics raises quite some ethical and social issues particularly around the data standards and security of patient data, consent of patients involving fair usage and collection of data, ethical/fair usage of the technology.

India currently is more focused around developing the infrastructure piece with projects like Genome India project, Human Genetics & Genome Analysis, etc. An important next step for India will be the introduction of the data privacy bill with general guidelines around handling health-data to help Indian genomics companies better collect and manage confidential genomics data as well as support other large scale health infrastructure projects like Ayushman Bharat Yojana which also aims to store digital medical records. Considering that the overall genome market in India is currently nascent and due to high costs involved, the penetration in rural markets is currently almost negligible and will be slow growing in the next 5 years vis-à-vis the urban markets, as there will be a lot of private and international providers entering to enable growth in the markets, she added.

With the advancement of the technology and as the costs reduce, the preventive application of healthcare can be game-changing for the rural market as it may greatly reduce the severity of chronic diseases caused by late detection of diseases. Also, awareness around genomics as a preventive mechanism is still low even among urban populations and increasing adoption rates through medical professionals will be a key growth driver, she maintained.