Narayana Health develops liquid biopsy as alternative to surgical process

A burgeoning population and the advent of a range of new pathogenic and lifestyle diseases has made healthcare in India extremely complex. The medical fraternity has risen to the occasion at every step to meet the challenges in maintaining and improving public health, delivering several new molecules and therapeutic procedures to improve the overall well being of the populace. In a new series, Business Standard brings you five institutions that stand out in the field of medical research in India. 

------------------------

One of the fastest growing hospital chains from the south, Narayana Health set up its first institution in  Bengaluru.  The chain has spread all over India under Dr Devi Shetty, with the latest hospital opening In Gurugram earlier this year. As hospitals grow, they need to attract well-versed medical practitioners. Good doctors gravitate towards research and Narayana Health encourages its consultants to devote at least 10-15 per cent of their time in this space. The hospitals does three types of research. The first is clinical trials, which are funded by Pharma companies for applications in medicine, diagnostic tools and medical devices. The second is the theses of DNB students, so the questions they ask are answered through the research they conduct. The third and most significant is research that is investigator initiated –– a doctor observes a patient and may be looking for answers. He then approaches a basic scientist and together they may attempt to find answers which will result in new lines of treatment, new diagnostic methods or the creation of new devices.

Products available in the market
 

Narayana has conducted research to help build a product in the field of “liquid biopsy” – a method that does away with the need for surgery to get information about the presence or progression of cancer. Currently, this product has been launched for detection of cancers of the liver and colon. For leukemia, or blood cancer, further research is being conducted. 

Narayana has also partnered in bringing out a product to help diabetics keep track of their blood sugar using a mobile phone. The product has USFDA approval and has been developed in partnership with Jana Care, a diagnostic company.

Research facilities

The Health City campus occupies the largest space among all establishments at Bommasandra and the bigger chunk of research happens here. 

The place is a DSIR-certified research facility manned with state-of-the-art equipment.  It is a non-profit entity called the Mazumdar Shaw Research Foundation and is independent and fully-equipped, functioning round the clock. Sometimes Biocon sends a group of scientist working on a particular problem to this place for a period of one year. 

The foundation has a centre for translational research, where 20 to 25 scientist are found working at any given point of time. They come in and go depending on the project that they are working on. 

For clinical research, there is a computer to manage data, and a bio-statistician, an epidemiologist and a data management coordinator have been employed.

Read how Apollo Hospitals' exosome technology detects brain cancer without biospy 

The research wing headed, by Dr Alben Sangamani, is currently working on a study of patients with head and neck cancer, which has an incidence of 30-40 per cent in India due to its large tobacco-chewing population. The upside of the cancer is that it grows slowly and is treatable, and deformities avoided, if detected early. Narayana has started a project with community health workers who have been given a device using a mobile phone to click pictures of early lesions appearing in the mouth. The device has an artificial intelligence component, and is able to differentiate between a normal mouth ulcer and one which may be having edges that are likely to become cancerous. This project is being done in partnership with the University of Texas and is being funded by grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH). The outcome of the study is likely to be shared within a year. 

Read how Hyderabad-based Asian Institute of Gastroenterology is not only pioneering breakthroughs in the treatment of the digestive system, but is raising the bar in nephrology and diabetology too 

Apart from this, Narayana is also conducting an independent drug trial not linked to any pharmaceutical company. Certain cancer patients are at greater risk of relapse because of the genetic pool they come from. The drug trial is trying to see if secondary cancers can be prevented by giving the patient metformin and curcumin extracted from turmeric. There is a lot of interest in metformin as a cancer inhibitor, because of the ecology of the drug and the path it follows. It is a unique drug. as it does not metabolize in the body, but gets excreted. The trial is being funded by the National Cancer Grid and Bhabha Institute of Atomic Energy.
 

Narayana health has international collaborations with McMaster University, Canada, University of Texas and agencies across the US and Australia.  The findings of collaborative studies, which are published in respected journals, also fetch the institution a share in products developed on the basis of the research. The Centre receives grants from ICMR, DBT and DST.

Watch this space for the next article in this series, on how Medanta is using a cocktail of modern and traditional to ensure wellness.