Approximately 40% of diseases are influenced by genetics, including major disease areas such as cardiovascular, metabolic disorders, cancers and rare diseases.¹ This makes genetic testing a powerful tool to prevent and diagnose disease as well as to tailor more effective treatment therapies.

Many blockbuster drugs, for example, tend to be effective for only 30% to 50% of patients using them. In India, improving drug efficacy is vital to relieving the country’s ailing hospital system, with only 0.7 doctors per 1,000 patients.²

Despite the revolutionary advances in healthcare delivered by genomic testing, in India and other emerging markets this powerful technology has typically been too expensive for average consumers. Low awareness amongst clinicians of the benefits, alongside a lack of adequate screening and diagnostic facilities also exacerbates the challenge of providing genetic tests.³

As a consequence, global genomic databases have focused on developed markets like the UK and US, overlooking the diverse genomes present across South and Southeast Asia.⁴ While Indians represent 20% of the world’s population, their DNA sequences comprise under 0.2% of information in global genomic databases.⁵

MedGenome is a genetic diagnostics and research company with a focus on next generation sequencing (NGS). The company serves over 200,000 patients annually, providing more than 1,300 tests.

Founded in 2013, MedGenome has developed a model of accessibility to deliver diagnostic tests to a global standard, at a fraction of the cost of Western providers. MedGenome’s genetic testing provides insights into complex diseases to aid in research and drug discovery for oncology, diabetes, ophthalmology, cardiology, and rare diseases, as well as proving information to aid in early diagnosis and preventative treatment.

The company is the first, largest and most established genomic medicine company in India, with three business segments. It conducts research, provides NGS services for global pharmaceutical companies and academic clients, and licenses its genetic database to build drug discovery platforms.

MedGenome has a significant early mover advantage and has relationships with key specialised hospitals and physicians. To date, the company has obtained samples from over 5,000 hospitals and 15,000 clinician partners across the globe. The company has developed a diverse range of tests for reproductive genetics, inherited disease genetics, cancer genetics and infectious disease genetics.

In 2021, MedGenome introduced a direct-to-consumer genomics product called Genessense, which provides genetic and health risk scoring, carrier screening, drug response, and ancestry data to patients.

MedGenome is leading a new health revolution in India, and most importantly, working with regional hospitals as well as clinicians to drive expansion into both Southeast Asian and African markets that have limited genomic diagnostic capabilities. This expansion will fuel further inclusivity and expand the global genomic data pool used to design and create effective therapeutics, improving the relevance of therapies for millions of emerging consumers and reducing the non-communicable disease burden.