BD forges ahead with patient-centric approach  
With the largest market share in flowcytometry, BD is forging ahead with a patient-centric approach and working in the field of HIV/AIDS monitoring with a focus on stem cell research therapy.

Becton Dickinson (BD) is a US-based company that manufactures and sells  a broad range of medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment and diagnostic products used by healthcare institutions, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, industry and the general public. BD operates in India through a wholly-owned subsidiary, BD India.  BD is focused on improving drug therapy, enhancing the  speed of diagnosing infectious diseases, and advancing research and discovery of new drugs and vaccines.
The company  registered  a  revenue of Rs 232 crore for the year 2008-09 as compared to fiscal 2007-08,  recording a growth of 33 percent over the last year when it clocked revenues of Rs178 crore. A growing potential in stem cell research, AIDS monitoring, enhanced government R&D funding with a focus on universities, DST and DBT initiatives to support industries, like SBIRI and NMILTI and a growing demand from CROs have been some of the growth drivers for the company’s business, according to Sunit Trivedi, director, biosciences at BD India. The year also saw a surge in the demand for prefilled syringes from biopharma companies with drug portfolio in oncology and cardiology. It is to be noted that the company is a leader in the flowcytometry segment commanding almost 85 percent of the market in India.
This year the company made innovative changes in FACSAria II, used for studies on stem cell therapy and sorting, by adding 375 lasers to it and making it more cost-effective.  BD is also looking at new areas for the application of Influx, a product that was added to the company’s portfolio through its acquisition of Cytopia in 2008. BD’s product range primarily finds its application in experimental stem cell therapy, a new concept in the field of stem cell research, but can also be used in nanobiotech, marine biotech and sterile experimental stem cell therapy. CD4 percentage, a unique product for AIDS monitoring was launched last year that does both the CD4 count and percentage in a single run. Path way 855, another product, was  launched last year for high content cell imaging experiments.
BD bagged a major tender for 60 instruments from GoI for AIDS monitoring. Growth was also recorded in high-end sorting. BD is strongly emphasizing education in the field of flowcytometry through its center of excellence for flowcytometry set up in collaboration with the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore. Talking about plans for the future, Sunit Trivedi  said, “We are  looking towards government partnerships and figuring out how we can work in a  public private partnerships (PPP) model. Some of the focus areas are going to be biosciences, nanotechnology, and AIDS monitoring and immunization.”