Agilent introduces DNA micro-array based genomics solutions in India

EPP News Bureau - Mumbai

Agilent Technologies Inc has announced plans to introduce its DNA microarray-based genomics solutions into India’s growing life sciences market, informed a press release.

Agilent, currently, sells technologies for the chemical, environmental and pharmaceutical manufacturing markets in India, and is a biotech leader there. The company expects to expand its presence into industries such as medical research, drug discovery and agro-biotech, according to the press release.

‘‘Agilent’s Life Sciences and Chemical Analysis (LSCA) business had double-digit growth in India last year, driven by the country’s booming biotechnology, agriculture, information technology and pharmaceuticals industries. India is now LSCA’s fourth-largest country of business in Asia, and one of the fastest-growing. We expect this growth to continue as we launch our industry-leading solutions for the life sciences sector into areas such as genomics and proteomics research,’’ said Sanjeev Dhar, country manager for the LSCA business in India.

According to the press release, the Indian microarray market is estimated to grow by approximately 70 percent in 2005, according to genomics and bioinformatics company Genotypic. Agilent’s life science technologies address demand from government-funded research institutions and pharmaceutical companies—a demand expected to be fuelled by the Indian government’s Draft National Biotechnology Policy. The strategy focuses on using biotechnology as a tool to improve quality of life and aims to position India as a worldwide hub for biotechnology research, the release said.

A government supported infrastructure is expected to stimulate research in areas such as genomics, stem cells, molecular medicine, metabolic engineering and cell biology, the release added. ‘‘Growth in sectors like biopharmaceuticals, contract research bioservices, agriculture, genetic engineering and molecular medicine will drive growth for analytical instrumentation,’’ Dhar said.

Agilent’s initial plans focus on introducing its DNA microarray-based genomics solutions, which improve the productivity of gene-expression and genomics research. Also known as DNA chips or biochips, microarrays are small pieces of glass dotted with thousands of strands of DNA, each of which corresponds to a specific gene in the genome. In a single experiment, microarrays can measure genome-wide differences between diseased and healthy cells.