EMPE Diagnostics to set up facility for TB diagnostic kits in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: With an aim to produce 2 million Tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic kits per month, the EMPE Diagnostics has announced setting up of their global production facility at Genome Valley in Hyderabad. The company is investing around Rs 25 crores in Hyderabad.

Currently, EMPE Diagnostics is conducting clinical evaluations at least 5 countries for their diagnostic kits for tuberculosis. The products to be produced in Hyderabad will be sold globally. The company also plans to invest around 50 crores in this facility with additional employment for around 150 people. Over the years, the company is planning to invest around 25 Million Euros in the facility.

The announcement was made after Minister KT Rama Rao's meeting with Dr Pavan Asalapuram, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of EMPE Diagnostics at World Economic Forum (WEF), Davos. Jayesh Ranjan IAS, Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce Dept. and Shakthi M Nagappan, Director Lifesciences, Government of Telangana were also present during the meeting.

''Tuberculosis is one of the ancient infections and even today, it remains a challenge for the medical world, causing socio-economic burden for countries. I'm delighted to announce the expansion plans of EMPE Diagnostics for Hyderabad. I'm glad to note that Hyderabad will serve as the global production facility for the company," said KTR.

"Among the top 30 high TB burden countries, India has more number of TB patients, while Eastern EU countries contains highest proportion of multidrug resistance patients. Even today, 2 out of 3 receive incorrect antibiotics and keep spreading drug-resistant TB in the community. Covid has pushed the progress in TB to at least 10 years back. Therefore, detection of TB and treating it with correct antibiotics has become much more important than before. I am glad that EMPE Diagnostics is working to solve a global humanitarian challenge. We are so thankful to the Minister KTR and Telangana Govt. for their support,'' said Dr Pavan Asalapuram.

Tuberculosis is the world's deadliest infection, killing 4000 people every day. The Covid pandemic has almost stopped TB diagnosis, which has massively increased the number of TB infections and created a huge socio-economic burden across the globe. EMPE Diagnostics develops diagnostic solutions for infectious diseases with a special focus on antimicrobial resistance. It is committed to combat drug resistance in Tuberculosis (TB) by providing reliable diagnostic tests. EMPE Diagnostics' mfloDx® technology can rapidly detect the TB causing bacteria and its drug-resistance profiles in less than 3 hours, directly from patients' sputum samples without any requirement for expensive infrastructure.