Cepheid, a global leader in molecular diagnostics, announced the opening of their first manufacturing facility in India today in Mahadeva Kodigehalli, Bengaluru. The 77,000-square-foot facility will produce the industry-leading Xpert tuberculosis testing cartridges for India and other countries.
In the presence of Mr. Srinath Venkatesh, President, Danaher India, and Mr. Ravikumar Venkataraman, Vice President, Danaher India Development Center, the facility was inaugurated by Dr. K. Sudhakar, Hon. Minister for Health & Family Welfare and Medical Education, Govt. of Karnataka, and Mr Laurent Bellon, Senior Vice President, Operations, Cepheid USA.
Cepheid's new manufacturing unit in India marks an important milestone in the company's commitment to providing accessible and high-quality molecular diagnostic solutions to health care providers and patients in the region.
"I would like to congratulate and thank Cepheid for choosing Karnataka to set up its first manufacturing facility in South Asia," said Dr. K Sudhakar, Hon. Minister for Health & Family Welfare and Medical Education, Government of Karnataka. The CBNAAT device manufacturing unit will also contribute to Hon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of eradicating tuberculosis in India by 2025."
Commenting on the milestone, Laurent Bellon, Senior Vice President, Operations, Cepheid USA, said, “We are thrilled to announce the launch of our first manufacturing unit in India. The Make in India program represents our vision of furthering India's growth and development in the molecular diagnostic ecosystem. We are proud to be a critical partner in the country's efforts to improve healthcare outcomes and eliminate TB. This new manufacturing facility illustrates our strong commitment to India.”
The Cepheid manufacturing project in India began in 2018 to support the rapidly growing Indian market. In accordance with the Government of India's "Make in India" policy, local component manufacturing will make Cepheid's MTB kits more accessible while also strengthening the country's broader molecular diagnostics production capabilities.
“We are proud to contribute to India’s long-term sustainability goals and help eradicate TB by 2025”, said Jai Shankar Krishnan, President – High Growth Markets, Danaher Corporation. “This initiative is driven by our honorable Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi. Towards this cause and Danaher’s commitment to India, we are excited to leverage the “Make in India” initiative by opening a manufacturing site in Bangalore for Cepheid that will help more than 10 million Indian population to be tested for TB along with other tropical diseases.”
Cepheid has nearly 50,000 GeneXpert Systems installed worldwide, including systems in 35 Indian states and union territories.
“The manufacturing site provides a fantastic Gemba for our product developers – understanding how our products are built helps us design next generation products,” stated Venkataraman Ravikumar, Vice President, India Development Center. “And for the manufacturing teams, India Development Center (IDC) provides a window into future products and solutions that are anticipated in the market.”
Cepheid is the molecular diagnostic provider of choice in every one of the 30 high burden TB countries (as defined by WHO). The Cepheid GeneXpert system and Xpert test cartridges are a flexible testing platform that can deliver accurate and fast results that are simple to operates, where they are needed – from the lab to the point of care.