Reliance Industries Ltd., which is run by Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is making progress in the field of genetic mapping by making genome sequencing tests available in India at a low cost. Within a few weeks, the conglomerate plans to launch the comprehensive test, which costs 12,000 rupees ($145). The genome test can show if a person is likely to get cancer, heart disease, or neurodegenerative disease. The Bengaluru-based company, Strand Life Sciences Pvt., which Reliance now owns about 80% of, created the product. It can also indicate whether their parents passed down a genetic disorder. Additionally, it is approximately 86% cheaper than other comparable services available in the area. The product is easy to find.
The genome test could lead to a gold mine of biological information that will help India, which has the most people in the world, make drugs and find ways to prevent diseases. It fits with Ambani’s plans to explore more data as he moves his $192 billion empire away from refining and towards consumer and digital services. According to a report from Allied Market Research, the global market for genetic testing was estimated to be worth $12.7 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $21.3 billion by 2027.
Ambani uses the low price of the genome testing service as a way to get more people to use it and make a business out of preventive health care that will last. The aggressive strategy is similar to the ones Reliance used when it got into the retail business in 2006 and the telecommunications business in 2016. In both cases, it wiped out competitors and became the market leader.
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But in a market like India, where people still don’t know much about these services and their benefits. Low prices might not be enough to attract customers. Even though Reliance’s price of $145 is less than that of its international competitors, it is still expensive for the average Indian consumer, since nearly two-thirds of the country lives on less than $2 per day. Reliance can use its digital services and recent e-commerce purchases to promote its genome testing product. It needs blood samples taken at home. In the next few weeks, Reliance will aggressively market the test on its MyJio app to its 425 million wireless subscribers. As well as to users of the health app JioHealthHub and the recently bought online pharmacy Netmeds. Currently, a small group of early testers is piloting the test.
While tracking ancestry or traits like athletic prowess, hair texture, and propensity for obesity have garnered a lot of consumer interest in the US. The longer-term business model of these services is centered on preventive healthcare. Global pharmaceutical companies may be able to create new drugs. As well as learn how to better target current therapies with more genomic data. This could be especially helpful in genetically under-mapped India. For instance, in establishing a genetic connection to some of the diseases that are more prevalent there. However, the goals of Reliance and other genetic testing businesses have yet to be realized anywhere. And pioneers like 23andMe are currently under regulatory scrutiny.
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In 2013, the US Food and Drug Administration conducted a two-year review process on the company. As a result it was prohibited from making any health related claims. 2015 saw the regulator approve 23andMe’s request to offer medical testing. India has still not established regulatory standards for genetic tests. Despite Strand’s assurance that it would take the most recent scientific research into account when interpreting the test results. It will be the business’s first offering in a complex and rapidly evolving scientific field.
