Mankind Pharma set to foray into diagnostics with Pathkind

Delhi-based pharmaceutical company Mankind Pharma, known for its contraceptive products, is all set to make its foray into the diagnostic laboratories business with Pathkind. The Juneja family-promoted company wants to exploit the opportunity that Dr Lal PathLabs, Metropolis and SRL Diagnostics have tapped by making the sector more organised.   

The diagnostic space is expected to make Rs 60,000 crore in revenue in 2017-18, compared to Rs 37,700 crore in 2014-15, according to Dr Lal PathLabs’ annual report for 2016. It is highly fragmented with standalone centres accounting for 45-50% of the market and organised ones having 25-30% share, while hospital-based diagnostic centres account for the rest. 

There are around one lakh diagnostic centres across the country. It is this opportunity in the sector that Mankind plans to tap through its new venture, Pathkind. Mankind has already hired Sanjeev Vashishta, former chief executive officer of SRL Diagnostics to launch its new business.

“We are introducing a sub-hub and spoke model as opposed to the hub and spoke model that others use,” said Vashishta, explaining the differentiation strategy for the company. Under this model, while smaller towns will have basic tests like haemogram, bigger ones will do slightly more complex tests. Then there will be a central lab in Gurgaon where esoteric testing will be done. 

The company’s initial focus will be Uttar Pradesh followed by Uttarakhand, Bihar, and North-East. Once that belt is covered, Pathkind will move to other geographies. It plans to have one central lab, 11 network labs and 22 small labs by March 2018. In the next five years, its target is to be able to set up 125 labs and 1,200 collection centres. 

Vashishta, a minority stakeholder in the company, believes that Mankind’s network and workforce will help make its diagnostic business a household name. Pathkind plans to provide tests ranging from hematology, serology, histo-pathology, cytogenetics, molecular biology.