AB SCIEX, a global leader in providing mass spectrometry solutions to companies worldwide, opened its central application support and training centre in Gurgaon, a first of its kind in India, with an investment of $3 million. Shalini Gupta finds out more about the company’s plans in India and the opportunity the country poses, in an interview with Rainer Blair, President, AB SCIEX
What are the major markets for the company? Where all do you have a presence in APAC, any new markets you entered this year (2012)?
| Rainer Blair |
As a global leader in mass spectrometry technologies, AB SCIEX is in more than 70 countries around the world. In addition to China and India, AB SCIEX has a presence in several APAC countries, including Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. We have been in these countries for years but we continue to expand. By revenue growth opportunities, China and India are our top priorities. In countries where we don’t have a direct presence, we work through dealers. In 2012, we expanded our presence not only in India, but also in China and Southeast Asia.
The company had a presence in the Indian market through LABINDIA before it acquired the latter. What is the India strategy like and how has it changed over the years? How has the integration of LABINDIA been since the acquisition?
Our strategy for India is to deliver high-value analytical solutions that meet the evolving needs of the Indian scientific communities that conduct complex and routine analysis of compounds, proteins and contaminants. The pharmaceutical market, the food and environmental market and the clinical research market are major opportunities for us in India going forward, so we continue to make our solutions more efficient to put the power of mass spectrometry into the hands of an increasing number of scientists and lab technicians.
We understand that every geography will have their own specific challenges and needs and, therefore, we are also customising the solutions for the Indian market, for instance developing and offering Methods for pesticides analyses specific to Indian regulatory requirements. On the routine testing front, there is a move to faster, more accurate answers. On the more advanced scientific front there is a move to more comprehensive analysis, which requires more advanced tools like our TripleTOF systems. We are evolving our technologies to stay one step ahead and provide solutions to cater to these various needs of different labs.
The integration of Labindia’s mass spectrometry business into AB SCIEX has gone phenomenally well. As far as Indian customers were concerned, the transition was seamless. We have seen a double-digit growth in India since the acquisition. We have great traction in India because the market for mass spectrometry systems sees the value of AB SCIEX solutions.
Taking a cue from the question above, just as pharma companies are looking at emerging markets, are supplier companies also exploring and foraying into these markets, if yes, what are some of these markets for AB and how different is the strategy, challenges encountered etc?
AB SCIEX is absolutely focused on emerging markets. We refer to them as high-growth markets now. Not long ago India was considered an ’emerging market’ from a global perspective. Globally, we are looking at the Middle East, Russia, Brazil and Thailand. Because there is a much smaller existing market for mass spectrometry, we are working to better understand how these markets can expand by more laboratories switching to LC/MS technologies. We need to educate the markets better before we see an accelerated adoption of these technologies.
Which product segments have been the growth drivers for AB in the past year by revenues?
Food testing and clinical research are ahead of the curve, driving growth. Recent passage of the Food Safety law in India for domestic food consumption has called for more advanced technologies to be used for contaminant testing in food products. In clinical research we see a need in the market to reduce false positives from other technologies. We also seen a significant growth in academia and basic research driven by the Indian government’s mandate to increase the focus on research in India.
How have the needs of the pharma industry evolved in the mass spectrometry segment and how are you better placed to address them? Are there any unmet needs where MS has an application that need to addressed?
The pharma industry, especially in India, is moving increasingly into biologics and biosimilars. We have tailored our solutions and have a special focused programme as well as latest hardware and software solutions to meet the need for this type of drug development. Mass spectrometry will play a major role in biologics for years to come, but there is a need for better education of the market and we are customising or training offerings to cater to this need of the industry. Even though the majority of drug development is still small molecule, the pharma market as a whole is shifting toward biopharmaceuticals (large molecule analysis). The industry is looking long term and there is a tremendous opportunity here.
What new products did the company launch this year?
We have launched 11 new products in 2012, all of which were launched in India. These include new mass spectrometry systems, including the QTRAP and TripleQuad 6500 systems, TripleTOF 5600+ system, TripleTOF 4600 system and QTRAP and TripleQuad 4500 systems. We also launched new Eksigent LC systems for liquid chromatography as part of a complete LC/MS workflow solution. Customers are expecting more value for the money they invest in capital equipment for scientific analysis. Many of our new systems meet this need for better value. The marketing strategy for India is focused on a value sell, but what really makes a difference is the service and support in India. We make sure it is world-class.
What opportunities does the food safety law pose for your business?
While in the past, food testing was being done primarily for exports from India, with the passage of this law in 2011, there is an increased focus on food testing for domestic consumption as well. This obviously implies a huge increase in infrastructure, including setup of new labs for food testing and augmenting the capabilities of existing labs. There are several initiatives from the government to support the setup of these new labs and implement the revised regulations. This, in turn, means a significant business opportunity for a company like AB SCIEX, which is one of the leading suppliers of LC-MS technology widely used in these labs for food contaminant testing. We are collaborating with research institutes by offering unique solutions for their food testing research, helping promote awareness in government referral and commercial labs engaged in food testing. We are also offering practical hands on workshops in the new Centre of Excellence where labs thinking of expanding in this area can see for themselves the power of MS technology.
With governments all over looking at affordable healthcare, pushing for generics and also with drug pipelines drying up, what does this imply for companies such as yours?
The push for generics as well as drive to affordable healthcare is very good for us because not only our solutions are perfect for use in the development of generics, but they also help the biomedical community find better remedies for patients. Although the drug pipelines may be ‘drying up,’ our systems are used in new drug discovery, and there is a huge opportunity in biologics, which is large molecule analysis. We see ourselves as partners in all aspects of drug discovery and development, whether it is for NCEs (new chemical entities) or biologics or for generics and biosimilars.
How do government regulations enable and empower you?
Food testing in India started almost a decade ago, but it was predominantly done for export market, where the products were tested to comply with the regulatory guidelines of the ultimate country of destination of these products. The testing for domestic food consumption was at a bare minimum only for premium products. But with the passage of Food Safety law in 2011, mandating the testing of food products for domestic consumption as well, this market has started growing exponentially. The need for these tests is directly linked to the adaption of new technologies and thereby means setup of many new labs / expansion of existing infrastructure which results in mutual growth for the labs as well as technology providers like us. Discovery of new contaminants and inclusion in the regulatory guidelines also drives organisations like ours to invest in R&D for development of technologies and workflows for newer tests.
What are the trends in new drug discovery of the future and how are you gearing up to tap them?
Proteins are the ultimate targets for drug discovery. There is considerable amount of research going on in India in proteomics as well as a shift from chemical entities to large molecules as drug targets. We do not see this as a niche movement but a strategic approach to new drug discovery. This is also the key to development of biosimilars and, therefore, we see this as a huge potential for future. Besides our traditional products, we are developing new products in line with this requirement of industry, as well as academia, which is a strong partner with the industry in this area of research. The Indian market in 2012 was driven equally by industry, as well as academia research which contributed to over 40 per cent of the total market, so it is a significant size of market for us.
What was the rationale behind opening up a one of its kind application and training centre in India? How many training centres does AB have in APAC?
Indian customers highly value world-class service and support, as well as on-going training. The centre is a perfect area for us to furnish these needs and collaborate with them on an on-going basis, using state-of-the-art technology. Although we have have field staff and work with local customers to meet the needs of our client base in other parts of India, the $3 million centre in Gurgaon is the central application support and training centre that will take service and support to the next level. We also have a similar centre in Shanghai, China, as well as several smaller centres around APAC.
How much staff does the new application centre have? How many people do you hope to train in the next year? What facilities does it offer?
The centre has over 45 associates with over 20 dedicated to after sales support of our client base. It has the capacity to train well over 300 scientists annually. This number can change as per the needs of the industry and our client base. Equipped with all the latest technologies from AB SCIEX, it will offer workflow-based training right from sample processing to MS analyses and final data processing specific to area of interest to the customers. Besides this, hands-on workshops for scientists to see the technology in action in real-time would be a big plus point. It will also support customers in method development of challenging molecules and any molecules that are of national priority, such as newly discovered contaminants in food, for example.
What is future outlook for India?
AB SCIEX is fully committed to India. It is a growth market for us and we expect a continued growth. As new products are launched globally, we will bring them online in India to ensure easy access for Indian customers to the latest advancements in LC/ MS technologies. We plan to grow the business locally, which means more job opportunities. We are very positive about our future outlook of India heading into 2013.