Sitting and having a cup of tea with the country manager of an MNC brings a typical big-boss type image to mind. But, that is not the case with Dhiren Wagle, country manager of Bio-Rad Labs (India) Pvt Ltd.

Operating and expanding Bio-Rad's canvas in the neighboring countries of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, etc, the confident looking manager has the desire to capture the entire market with innovation. Wagle talked at length to BioSpectrum, on the industry dynamics and developments in the company.

How does Bio-Rad rate itself in the industry? What are the recent developments at BioRad India?

We entered the Indian market in 1996 and since then we have had certain priorities—to achieve customer satisfaction and to expand our business in the neighboring countries. On both these counts we have achieved excellent results. Now with the help of a skilled team, I find Bio-Rad an eminent part of the industry.

In terms of recent major developments, we have given more power and liberty to our regional offices. We have done this by connecting all the regional offices directly to the main office in the US. We have six offices in major cities of India, now they can respond to the customers more quickly and independently. This will help them to develop healthy relationships with their respective customers. We have also started maintaining a product feedback record on the basis of the responses of our customers. This will help us to recognize the product's performance in the industry.

Apart from building good relations with the customers what are the other focus areas of the company?

We are entering into microarray technology in the life sciences section of the industry. We are offering process chromatography systems. Our BioLogic DuoFlow chromatography systems offer flexibility with multiple system configurations, many optional upgrades and common control software that is intuitive and easy to follow. Besides this we have developed a complete screening tool for the newborn child–"Neonlta". With the help of this tool a child can be diagnosed for all hormonal diseases and disorders at the right stage. In India, the product is already accepted by leading medical institutes like CDFD, Hydrabad. Dr Radharama Devi of CDFD is using it and in Mumbai Dr Anil Jalan is using Neonlta for carrying tests on newborn babies. It will cost between Rs 1,000-2,000 for any parent who goes in for Neonlta tests.

Bio-Rad has initiated a Quality Control (QC) program for research and pathology laboratories. How successful have you been?

Our QC program is doing well and we are moving in the correct direction in this field. As of now, we have built a network of almost 200 labs all over the country. Initially, we are targeting labs, which are operating in the cities. We have categorized the labs on the basis of their competency. For example, in category 'A' we have identified about 250 labs, in category 'B' we have nearly 2000 labs in India. Right now we are not concentrating beyond these two categories. We are organizing awareness seminars and workshops in collaboration with local hospitals and have already conducted seminars in cities like Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Delhi, Patna, Lucknow and other major cities of the country. We are going to organize similar seminars in Mumbai and Pune soon.

Any challenge that you foresee in maintaining quality control among the labs?

Yes, there are some big challenges in running this program smoothly. The biggest is that there is no law about maintaining any standards or quality in pathology/research labs in India. In countries like the US and Australia, the laws are very stringent. The absence of appropriate laws makes us helpless sometimes.

As a part of Bio-Rad's clinical diagnostics mandate, what progress has the company made into diabetes management?

Bio-Rad has produced some good tools for detecting blood sugar. One example is HbA1c. The machine has the capability of detecting a patient's blood sugar level as an average of the past two months. The present day sugar detectors can only detect the sugar level at the time of test. A blood sugar test through HbA1c costs around Rs 300-400 for any patient. This certainly provides more information than what the other testing machines are offering.

We have also prepared a module for doctors specializing in diabetes care so that a proper methodology can be maintained for doing the tests. Apart from this, we are going to launch D-10 model, which will do all the tests done today by HbA1c and HbA2 (thalassemia) machines.

Unfortunately India has a high number of diabetic patients as compared to other countries. In terms of quality products and technology where are we standing?

It is surprising to know that a small country like Bangladesh maintains records of its diabetic population. But here in India, we do not have any provision of maintaining a database of the diabetic patients. Technology wise we are strong but we have to do many things in developing a proper health infrastructure.

In clinical diagnostics segment how is the company doing?

This segment accords high priority in our mandate. We are expanding in this area of the industry. As of now, we are touching around 10 percent of the total market share. But we want to expand further.

Similarly, in the life sciences segment, what are the strengths of Bio-Rad?

I am proud of my well-qualified team in this segment. We have PhDs from good academic backgrounds. They are giving excellent support to our customers. Today we have eight PhDs who are serving the company with their skills.

Which are the areas of growth and what are your future targets?

The pharma industry is surging into the field of proteomics in a big way. We need to tap that segment of the market as it holds lots of potential.

Although, we have achieved sales revenue of Rs 15 crore in clinical diagnostics segment, but we are eyeing to achieve Rs 19 crore by the end of current fiscal year.