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The State of Kerala, which is very backward in pharmaceutical production, is now poised to become a hub of medical devices manufacturing and ancillary companies in another five years, according to Dr C S Satheesh Kumar, former drug controller of Kerala.
The state has the required skilled professionals to drive the growth of the medtech industries, and a sufficient number of institutions are there to conduct innovation and research in this field, said Dr Kumar, who is now the corporate communication head of the Kochi based in-vitro diagnostics company, Agappe Diagnostics.
“Unlike any other sector, the medical technology industry is fast growing in Kerala. Even now, several companies are exporting medical devices and ancillary products to foreign countries and supplying to big multinational corporations,” he said.
In a telephonic interview with Pharmabiz, Dr Kumar said the state has now 85 registered medtech companies including manufacturers of surgical and medical examination gloves. Kerala is the leading state in the manufacturing of gloves in India, and very shortly it will become the number one state in that segment. Even today, it manufactures gloves worth about Rs. 700 crore.
Talking about the total production, Dr Kumar said Kerala manufactures about 16 per cent of the total manufacturing of medical devices in the country, and it is prepared to achieve third or fourth position in that sector in India in another two years. The annual turnover comes around Rs. 9,000 crore. He said the state government is giving immense support to the emerging medical devices sector of Kerala, and the government has a separate industry policy to develop medtech industries in the state. A few months ago, the government conducted a meeting of all medical devices manufacturers in Kochi to devise separate strategies to develop medical devices and ancillary industries.
Apart from the Central PSU, HLL Lifecare at Thiruvananthapuram, there are private players, some of them are major ones in the world, like Agappe Diagnostics in Kochi, Terumo Penpol in Thiruvananthapuram, which is India’s largest blood collection bag manufacturer, Dentcare Dental Lab, which is Asia’s largest producer of dental products and the Kochi based company, NeST, the original equipment maker (OEM) for many MNCs. The public sector company, HLL Lifecare is engaged in the production of blood transfusion and neonatal care equipment, contraceptives, and surgical and healthcare products.
Besides, companies like Jayon Implants, at Kanjikode in Palakkad, which is an orthopaedic and spinal implant manufacturer, heart valve manufacturer TTK Healthcare at the state capital and the CML Biotech at Angamali in Ernakulam district, which makes pre-analytical consumables like blood collection tubes. The Kottayam based company, Ivelinks, manufactures medical drapes and medical gowns.
The Kooper Medical Technology Pvt. Ltd is based in Palakkad, which specializes in innovative solutions like plasma systems, electrodes, and camera systems. The Ernakulam based Careon Healthcare Solutions manufactures surgeon gown, absorbent gauze, face masks, PPE kits and surgical drapes.
According to Dr Kumar, although Kerala has very few manufacturing units for pharmaceutical production that accounts for only less than one percent of the total drug production in the country, the state is now emerging as a hub of medical devices with highly advanced industrial units. He said Kerala is blessed with the required industrial skills for the emerging medtech sector.
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