Rank 19

Making new forays

With a direct presence in India for two years, Beckman Coulter has made a mark in the Indian life sciences and R&D market segments.

Beckman Coulter India Pvt Ltd was established as a wholly owned direct subsidiary of Beckman Coulter Inc. USA in November 2005. Beckman Coulter is a leading manufacturer of biomedical testing instrument systems, tests and supplies that simplify and automate laboratory processes. Spanning the biomedical testing continuum-from pioneering medical research and clinical trials to laboratory diagnostics and point-of-care testing-Beckman Coulter's 2 lakh installed systems provide essential biomedical information to enhance health care around the world. The company, based in Fullerton, California, US, reported 2007 annual global sales of $2.76 billion with more than 78 percent of this amount generated by recurring revenue from supplies, test kits and services. Beckman Coulter India's life sciences research portfolio clocked revenues of Rs 24 crore, with major contributions coming from centrifugation, flow cytometry, automation, proteomics and particle characterization streams. "For life sciences, we have a systems biology approach--Provide standardized solutions for systems biology to enhance biomarker discovery and commercialize diagnostic markers," said a company source.

Prior to establishing a direct subsidiary in India, for 16 years, the company was represented in India through a reputed distribution channel. For Beckman Coulter India, the diagnostic and life science research portfolios have been major growth contributors in this subsidiary's total revenue sales. For the life sciences sector, the company has a product portfolio ranging from centrifugation, research flow cytometry, automation, proteomics, genomics, and analytical instruments. Beckman Coulter India has an employee strength of over 60 in India. The company mainly caters to the diagnostics (hematology, immunochemistry and biochemistry), bio-pharmaceuticals (R&D, quality control), discovery research and government-funded research institutes, pharmaceuticals and allied industries in India.

The Centrifugation portfolio comprises of the entire range of equipment from a table top micro centrifuge to the most technologically advanced ultra centrifuge. The flow cytometry portfolio comprises of entire range that can cater to the research segment as well as the clinical diagnostic segment right from a basic analyzer to a very high end cell-sorting system. The automation portfolio comprises of Biomek series systems for automating laboratory processes with standard as well as customized configurations. Beckman Coulter introduced several new products like Unicell DxI 600 Immunoassay system and the Optima Max XP Table Top Ultra Centrifuge in the Indian Market in 2007.

Dr Chandrasekhar SP, MD, Beckman Coulter India Pvt Ltd, said, "At present our major area of investment has been to consolidate ourselves in the market and that is in infrastructure. At present, we are in the first phase of investments and in the next few years we will see how the market goes and the accordingly channelize our investments."