In a deal that is “mutually securing”, Thyrocare Technologies Ltd and Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics have entered into a deal to set up a “lab automation system” that would help reduce turnaround time for testing samples by about three hours.
The seven-year deal would have Siemens set up and run the new automation system at the Thyrocare site, while Thyrocare ensures business volumes of about Rs 100 crore in the same period, Dr A. Velumani, Thyrocare Founder and Chief Executive, told Business Line.
In that sense, it is a mutually secure deal, he said, since Siemens is assured business and Thyrocare would have standard rates for the next few years.
The new technology involves track-systems that reduce human intervention, is capable of being worked for 24 hours and can be scaled-up, he said, adding that the automated system will be operational from May 2011.
TARGET SEGMENT
Thyrocare is targeting the wellness, general lifestyle segment, offering about 60 tests at Rs 1,600, he said. And it is here that the enhanced scalability of the new system would help, he added.
Late last year, Thyrocare Technologies had formalised a deal to offload 30 per cent equity in the company to private equity Cx Partners for an estimated Rs 188 crore. Subsequently, a new joint-venture company called Nueclear Healthcare Ltd has been set up, with Thyrocare promoters holding 70 per cent in both companies, Dr Velumani said. A site has also been identified in Navi Mumbai for the first centre equipped with nuclear imaging equipment, he added.
Dr Velumani has in the past been hailed for keeping prices economical in the diagnostic space, particularly in the thyroid-testing space, to start with. He hopes to repeat the Thyrocare experience in the radiology and oncology segments as well.
Contrary to other diagnostic models that involve growing through acquisitions, Thyrocare has a single centralised laboratory in Navi Mumbai, capable of processing about five lakh investigations per day. Its present capacity stands at one lakh, he said.
Thyrocare Laboratories shares closed up almost two per cent on the BSE on Tuesday.