Testing times

India shuns preventive care, but Thyrocare’s betting it’s a goldmine

A number of large diagnostic lab chains are trying to grab a piece of India’s growing $4 billion diagnostics market. Can Thyrocare’s commitment to affordable preventive care help it weather the storm

Ruhi Kandhari, 29 Nov 2018

Diagnostics major Thyrocare originally followed a contrarian approach of processing samples at one central lab

However, when it went public in 2016, it planned to set up 25 labs by March 2018. Yet only 8 have been established

This is on account of the company's growth slowing, primarily due to an increase in competition

Will Thyrocare be able to remain relevant in the face of competition?

Since it was founded in 1996, Indian diagnostics company Thyrocare has mostly enjoyed smooth sailing. By bringing down the cost for the most popular test for thyroid, it established itself as a serious player in the preventive healthcare space. This happened on the back of Thyrocare’s unique model—nationwide reach, but with just one lab. Samples collected throughout the length and breadth of the country were flown in to its central, automated lab for analysis.

AUTHOR

Ruhi Kandhari

Ruhi writes on the impact of healthcare policies, trends in the healthcare sector and developments on the implementation of Electronic Health Records in India. She has an M. Sc. in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.

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India shuns preventive care, but Thyrocare’s betting it’s a goldmine