INDIA – Singapore-based investment firm Temasek has invested US$85 million (around ₹680 crore) in Goa-based diagnostics chain, Molbio Diagnostics and it will be valued at US$1.6 billion post the round.
Molbio Diagnostics, known for its molecular diagnostic testing platform, will be the 108th unicorn after Tata 1mg made it to the list earlier this month.
The latest fundraising is a combination of primary and secondary market transactions with partial exits by angel investors.
This is the second private equity investment in Molbio, after Motilal Oswal Alternates acquired a minority stake y investing up to ₹240 crore (around US$32.5 million) in 2020.
In a statement, Molbio Diagnostics said that the fresh funds from Temasek along with those from existing investors such as Motilal Oswal Alternates will help the company accelerate the development and commercialization of new technologies based on clinical need gaps.
According to a statement, Molbio will utilize the funds to expand its global network. Currently, the diagnostics chain operator has a presence in over 40 countries and it plans to further add 20-25 countries every year.
This will also help the company in fast-tracking its efforts to take the Truenat platform to global markets, it added.
Molbio offers PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests for infectious diseases and received prominence during Covid.
The company has also made Tuberculosis (TB) testing fast and has been validated by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for screening.
In 2020, it was approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the initial detection of TB as a replacement to smear microscopy for the diagnosis of the disease and is pre-qualified to be part of the global plan to eradicate TB by 2030.
This Truenat technology can be deployed at all levels of healthcare, particularly in remote and inaccessible areas. Their technology can test for over 40 diseases including COVID-19, HIV, HPV, Hepatitis, Dengue, chikungunya, and malaria among others.
Elsewhere, US Pharma giant Pfizer has acquired ResApp Health Limited, an Australian-based company that invented a smartphone app that can diagnose COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses by listening to someone cough for nearly US$180 million.
The technology is diagnostic, recording and analyzing the cough of a person, though it also takes into account self-reported symptoms like a runny nose and a fever too, and returning a positive or negative result within just one minute.
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