· The facility has been set up to manufacture tuberculosis testing cartridges
· Through this investment the company hopes to aid India in its goal of eradicating tuberculosis by 2025
National, 14 March 2023: Cepheid, a leading global molecular diagnostics company, today announced the launch of their first manufacturing unit in India at Mahadeva Kodigehalli, Bengaluru. The 77,000 square-foot facility will manufacture the company’s industry-leading Xpert® tuberculosis testing cartridges for India and other countries.
The facility was inaugurated by Dr K. Sudhakar, Hon. Minister for Health & Family Welfare and Medical Education, Govt. of Karnataka, and Mr Laurent Bellon, Senior Vice President, Operations, Cepheid USA in the presence of Mr. Srinath Venkatesh, President, Danaher India and Mr. Ravikumar Venkataraman, Vice President, Danaher India Development Center.
The launch of the new manufacturing unit in India represents a significant milestone for Cepheid, as it strengthens the company’s commitment to providing accessible and high-quality molecular diagnostic solutions to health care providers and patients in the region.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr K Sudhakar, Hon. Minister for Health & Family Welfare and Medical Education, Government of Karnataka, “I would like to congratulate and thank Cepheid for choosing Karnataka for setting up its first manufacturing facility in South Asia. The CBNAAT device manufacturing unit will also strengthen the Hon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of making India Tuberculosis free by 2025.”
Commenting on the milestone, Laurent Bellon, Senior Vice President, Operations, Cepheid USA, said, “We are thrilled to announce the launch of our first manufacturing unit in India. The Make in India program represents our vision of furthering India’s growth and development in the molecular diagnostic ecosystem. We are proud to be a critical partner in the country’s efforts to improve healthcare outcomes and eliminate TB. This new manufacturing facility illustrates our strong commitment to India.”
The Cepheid manufacturing project in India was initiated in 2018 to support the dynamic India market. In line with the Government of India’s “Make in India” policy, the local manufacturing of components will make Cepheid’s MTB kits more accessible while strengthening the broader molecular diagnostics production capabilities in the country.
“We are proud to contribute to India’s long-term sustainability goals and help eradicate TB by 2025”, said Jai Shankar Krishnan, President – High Growth Markets, Danaher Corporation. “This initiative is driven by our honorable Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi. Towards this cause and Danaher’s commitment to India, we are excited to leverage the “Make in India” initiative by opening a manufacturing site in Bangalore for Cepheid that will help more than 10 million Indian population to be tested for TB along with other tropical diseases.”
Cepheid has almost 50,000 GeneXpert® Systems installed globally, including systems across 35 states and union territories in India.
“The manufacturing site provides a fantastic Gemba for our product developers – understanding how our products are built helps us design next generation products,” stated Venkataraman Ravikumar, Vice President, India Development Center. “And for the manufacturing teams, India Development Center (IDC) provides a window into future products and solutions that are anticipated in the market.”
Cepheid is the molecular diagnostic provider of choice in every one of the 30 high burden TB countries (as defined by WHO). The Cepheid GeneXpert® system and Xpert® test cartridges are a flexible testing platform that can deliver accurate and fast results that are simple to operates, where they are needed – from the lab to the point of care.
