Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) is now getting into genetic mapping space. This move by RIL will disrupt the health care sector as the conglomerate looks to make a health care trend led by disruptive US start-ups like 23andMe more affordable and widespread in India’s growing consumer market, as reported by news agency Bloomberg.
According to the report, RIL will roll out a comprehensive Rs 12,000 ($145) genome sequencing test within weeks, said Ramesh Hariharan, chief executive officer of Strand Life Sciences Pvt., which has developed the product. Reliance, which acquired the Bengaluru-based firm in 2021, owns about 80 per cent of it.
According to Bloomberg, the genome test, which is about 86 per cent cheaper than other offerings available locally, can reveal a person’s predisposition to cancers, cardiac, and neuro-degenerative ailments as well as identify inherited genetic disorders, said Hariharan.
The project to bring affordable personal gene-mapping to India’s 140 crore people will potentially create a treasure trove of biological data that can help drug development and disease prevention in the region. It also dovetails with Ambani’s ambitions to dive more into the world of data — he has often called it the “new oil” — as he pivots his $192 billion empire beyond refining into consumer and digital services.
“It’ll be the cheapest such genomic profile in the world,” Hariharan said, who also co-founded Strand Life Sciences. “We’re going out at an aggressive price point to drive adoption as it gives us a chance to build a viable business in preventive health care.”
The report said that ancestry reports from 23andMe can be bought for $99, its health plus ancestry reports cost $199. Full genome sequencing for health red flags costs more than $1,000 from Indian rivals, MapmyGenome and Medgenome. Cheapest offerings from some Chinese firms come for as low as 599 yuan ($87) but may not map the entire gamut of diseases that Reliance-owned Strand aims to detect.
A representative for Reliance Industries, however, did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comments.
Hariharan said the new genome testing being rolled out by the Reliance group will “set the standards” for India. “We will offer responsible consumer genomics by staying close to the science.”
The global genetic testing market was valued at $12.7 billion in 2019 and is expected to touch $21.3 billion by 2027, according to a report from Allied Market Research.
The new genome testing service “will ideally lead to creation of a big pool of data which will help development of targeted treatment and early intervention,” said Vishal Manchanda, senior vice-president at Systematix Institutional Equities, when told about Reliance’s new product.
Reliance’s digital services and its recent e-commerce acquisitions can be deployed to push its genome testing product, which just needs blood samples that can be collected at home.
Currently being piloted by a small number of early testers, it will be aggressively marketed by Reliance in the coming weeks on its MyJio app, with an outreach of 425 million wireless subscribers of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., health app JioHealthHub and the recently acquired e-pharmacy, Netmeds, Hariharan said.
With more genomic data, global drugmakers could potentially develop new drugs as well as gain insight into how to better target existing therapies. This could be particularly useful in genetically under-mapped India, for example in helping prove a genetic link to certain over-represented diseases in the country.