Lord's Mark Industries has partnered with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) to revolutionise sickle cell testing in India. The first-ever artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled point-of-screening (POS) equipment in the country, patented by IIT-B, will address challenges associated with sickle cell testing, making it more accessible and convenient with 100% accuracy.

Lord's Mark Industries will invest Rs 25 crore to develop and distribute the technology-enabled POS equipment, targeting revenue of Rs 100 crore by year 2026-27. Lord's Mark Industries will use its in-house R&D team to manufacture the sickle cell POS instrument at its IVD manufacturing facility in Vasai. The equipment will be available in government healthcare centers, pathology labs, and Lord's Mark Industries' pathology labs throughout the country.

Commenting on the collaboration, Sachidanand Upadhyay, Founder, Lord’s Mark Industries said, "We are investing in the establishment of 1000 pathology labs across the country, with an initial investment of Rs 50 crore, to provide easy access to sickle cell testing and other healthcare services."

The microscopy-based test developed by Prof. Debjani Paul and her team from the Dept. of Biosciences & Bioengineering at IIT-B can distinguish between healthy, sickle trait, and sickle anemia blood samples at the point of care. This is the only microscopy test that can actually distinguish carriers from individual who have sickle anemia within 30 minutes. Typically it would take 24 – 48 hours to identify the carriers.