How was Asence prepared to step up Covid-19 relief efforts?

After we spoke in 2019, Asence had ventured into molecular diagnostics and entered into a joint venture with the US-based company Co-Diagnostics Inc. to form CoSara Diagnostics, which meets the need for cost-effective and accurate PCR based diagnostic tests. We found molecular diagnostics to be the need of the hour, especially in India, where early detection of infectious diseases could literally save lives. At first, we were mainly focused on India-specific diseases like TB, but when Covid-19 hit, we were able to turn our affordable, molecular diagnostics technology into Covid-19 PCR tests and thereby became one of the first companies in India to offer these tests. We are aggressively moving towards covering just about any diseases with our molecular tests.

Additionally, before the outbreak of Covid-19, Asence, through its group company Synbiotics, was the only Indian manufacturer of the antifungal API Amphotericin B. Once the medical fraternity realized that this was the only treatment for black fungus (mucormycosis), a fungal infection that occurred in certain post-Covid instances, demand for Amphotericin B surged. We received an unprecedented number of requests and worked overtime to match demand across India.

Can you highlight the logistical benefits to point of care testing?

The main benefit of a point of care molecular testing is its ability to better penetrate semi urban and rural populations. Thanks to Covid-19, PCR machines became widespread globally, but in countries like India, they still remain located primarily in urban hubs. Asence, through its group company CoSara, is taking this a step further to make point of care devices tests available at many collection centers in class two or class three towns in India. We are working closely with our US partners to bring one of the most affordable point of care testing (POCT) devices to the market that will be saliva-based to provide the accuracy of a PCR machine on a POC device. We are in the process of getting USFDA approval and are doing the regulatory work to submit it to the CDSCO in India.

How does Asence select products to create for the Indian market?

Asence, through its group companies, focuses on diseases that are very prominent in India. Kala azar/leishmaniasis is a sandfly disease which greatly affects people in the eastern part of India and is fatal when left untreated. Our company is the sole Indian company that has an API for its treatment. This is an example of how Asence focuses on niche and significant molecules that are not manufactured by many. We are also doing R&D work on something in the diabetes area which will be like a nutraceutical product that can regulate blood sugar levels. We are always looking to bring innovative products to the market such as an effervescent form of curcumin, which can have anti-tumor capabilities, and we want to bring old Indian knowledge and wellness practices into the nutraceutical space globally.

Why should the international pharma community pay close attention to India?

People around the world are coming to acknowledge the quality of pharmaceutical products India supplies, and as more companies move away from China as a source of APIs and intermediates, they turn to us. Now is the time for India to shine, and that is why Asence will continue investing in expanding our infrastructure to further our mission to improve and enhance the quality of human life through supplying quality pharmaceutical preparations to the global markets.

Looking at the year ahead, what are your main objectives for Asence?

Asence is constructing a new API plant in Vadodara which we hope to have operating by January 2023. This new facility will be dedicated to oncology on the one side where we will manufacture Hydroxyurea and other oncology APIs, and on the other one side, we will focus on very niche synthetic APIs, which maybe have two or three manufacturers in the world.