Leading Mid-Corporates of India 2022

15 Experts' View Leading Mid-Corporates of India 2022 How would you describe the journey of your company since its inception? HiMedia have addressed a few critical need gaps within the field of microbiology and lifesciences, such as technology gaps and gaps in scalable quality and affordability. I took it up asmymission and challenge to manufacture microbiology media of world class quality and provide them at an affordable rate. The real need of the hour was to fire up the spirit of innovation in Indian minds so that with a ‘Self Belief’ we can manufacture world class quality products. I have experienced the struggles of a research associate in procuring microbiology media during my PhD work. The media was imported from either US or Europe and the costs of these media were astronomical. I approached a British company for a joint collaboration to manufacture these media; however, they rebuked the offer stating that no one in India could possibly produce such high- HiMedia Laboratories Private Limited Dr Gangadhar MWarke Founder & CMD tech products. Their response made me more resolute in taking up the challenge. Today, 48 years later, HiMedia has changed the landscape of Microbiology business in India. We are now ranked among the top 3 media manufacturers in the world by the American Society of Microbiology (ref- Handbook of Microbiology Media, 4th Edition, Prof. Ronald Atlas, ASM, CRC Press). This is the kind of recognition that drives us every single day to make science easy. We have already shifted the game in India’s favour by spreading our footprints in over 150 countries including Japan, Germany, USA, etc. During COVID, we got an opportunity to serve our country and the rest of the world. Ramping up our facilities, we facilitated 70million viral transport medium tests and supplied 56 million RNA extraction kits. What role has technology played in transforming your organization? Application of advanced technology is the DNA of success of HiMedia labs. The founder trio (Dr.Gangadhar Warke, Mr. Vishnu Warke, and Ms. Saroj Warke) along with their second generation of technocrats (Dr.Vishal G.Warke, Dr. Rahul G.Warke, Dr. Rajas V. Warke, Dr. Priti V. Warke, Dr. Kavita Khadke, Ms. Sheetal R. Warke), has led the organization to diversify into 7 wings- Microbiology, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Plant Tissue Culture, Chemicals & Biochemicals, Laboratory Consumables & Instruments and Hydroponics. Information technology is doing exciting implementations using RFID enabled Smart Warehouse, Smart Laboratory (IOT) and Smart Invoicing while also developing new products based on AI and Machine Learning. Other family members capably support in various crucial responsibilities like managing back- end operations and manufacturing plants. What is your company’s growth strategy for next 3-5 years? Looking at the trends in healthcare industry I am sure the next 3-5 years will be more demanding for “Rapid- detection” kind of products. Specially after COVID-19 pandemic this need is intensified. With increasing demand of USFDA approved pharmaceutical industry, there was an acute need for ready- prepared media plates & reagents, and we foresee this opportunity to ramp-up our capacity for Ready Prepared Media plates & other liquid media. We shall be focusing more on the global collaborations for cutting- edge research and new products development in the fields of Cultured Meat and Bio-Inks for 3D Bioprinting. Our molecular biology wing has a diverse product palette which is used in areas of Genomics, Proteomics, Instrumentation and Genomic Sequencing & Bioinformatics services. We have developed niche IT software based on Forensic Human Identification thereby driving the country towards being “Atmanirbhar” for the increasingly growing Molecular Diagnostic Sector. The rich “Warke Family” legacy of ‘spirit of Innovation’ is successfully being continued. Dun & Bradstreet