India has shown great unity when faced with a common enemy: Dr Iqbal

BioGX CEO Dr Shazi Iqbal (L) and Sr Vice-President Dr Shahin Iqbal.

By Rahul Dixit :

AS THE world is engaged in combating the coronavirus pandemic, two Nagpur-born doctors, Dr Shazi Iqbal and Dr Shahin Iqbal, too are chipping in their might through their American MedTech firm BioGX that is supplying coronavirus test kits world-wide. The band of brothers realised the enormity of the task immediately after cases started coming out from China. However, they were in a prepared state after a previous experience. In 2008, BioGX had embarked upon a project to speedily develop a molecular test for swine flu.

The company has now scaled up to over 1 million tests per week capacity for COVID-19 tests under the leadership of owner and CEO Dr Shazi and Sr Vice-President (Global Operations) Dr Shahin. Sons of Javed Iqbal, Assistant Conservator of Forest (Retd), and Dr Rehana Javed, former HoD in LAD College and ex-chairperson of Board of Studies (Urdu) Nagpur University, the Nagpur boys have carved a niche for themselves in molecular diagnostics. Dr Shazi, an alumnus of SFS School, did his BSc from Hislop College and MSc from LIT before moving to the United States of America for MS and PhD. Living in the USA since 1996, he formed BioGX company in Birmingham, Alabama. BioGX is currently supplying hundreds of thousands of tests per week to over 50 countries.

It is engaged in discussions with Indian distributors to supply the coronavirus test kits in India. However, there is a lack of instruments and automation needed for PCR-based tests. In an interview to ‘The Hitavada’ Dr Shazi explained how the company is working to fight the coronavirus pandemic and also praised India’s resilience in times of this crisis.

Q: What is the exact nature of the tests?

A: BioGX has pioneered an approach for molecular testing that enables large-scale ease of use and reliability. Basically, our tests detect genetic signatures specific for pathogens in order to identify infectious diseases. We take very complicated genetic testing and simplify it so that fast and reliable testing can be carried out anywhere in the world using any available lab instrumentation for molecular testing.

Q: Do you think the coronavirus pandemic has brutally exposed healthcare systems across the world?

A: Yes. In terms of infectious disease diagnostics within the healthcare system, this pandemic has exposed global shortcomings. Every country has its own challenges. Countries in the US and EU are hampered by testing capacity issues since their healthcare systems are designed to conduct such testing in centralised laboratories. Other countries lack the infrastructure or expertise to conduct PCR testing which is absolutely necessary to stop the spread of infections.

Q: How do you see the way forward in this crisis?

A: First and foremost, testing must become patient-centric and more geared around large-scale population testing. With a pandemic such as this one, the necessity lies with ensuring high quality tests are available for mass testing world-wide. Currently, the system is built in such a way that testing goes through the doctors who are ordering them. In order to get tested, you have to see your physician and he/she will order you to be tested, if you do not make an appointment with your doctor, you will not get tested. Going through the current system to get tested for an infectious disease is burdened with unnecessary costs. Logically, a patient should have the choice to get tested by sending sample to a lab directly for consensual testing. If the test is positive, then, the physician is consulted. If the test is negative a substantial amount of cost and agony is spared by all parties involved. On a more optimistic note, in these trying times, regulatory bodies around the world are opening their regulations with regard to outbreak testing. However, there also should be concentration on how to serve the greater population by manufacturing tests that are affordable and available to everyone, and not aimed at corporate benefit.

Q: How would you assess India’s response to COVID vis-à-vis Europe and America?

A: India has shown great determination and diligence in the fight against COVID-19. Protecting a country as densely populated as India can only attest to the efficiency and effectiveness of its pandemic action plan. The extended lockdown procedures and classification of hot zones have shown that the people of India have taken the severity of this pandemic to heart, as its European and American counterparts have displayed as well. India has fared far better than quite a few other countries due to timely lockdowns and discipline by the citizens. Great unity when faced with a common enemy.

Q: Is lockdown the only solution to stop the virus spread at the moment?

A: Although lockdown procedures all over the world have proven paramount to the flattening of the curve; societies in general have shown its resilience, embracing the virtual arena with great success. It is the combination of testing and isolation that has served far better in countries that have implemented massive surveillance programmes. Additionally, the accurate use of social networking and technology in general, has been a great source of information, providing a large percentage of populations with streamlined guidelines, data sharing and virtual healthcare. This movement has coincidentally empowered the consumer/patient and will ultimately lead the healthcare system to become more patient-centric. We emphasise the importance of mass-testing and patient-centric healthcare.

Q: How do you see healthcare systems post-COVID?

A: Technology will steer the fate of healthcare systems world-wide and rally a consumer revolution, forcing the evolution of healthcare to become more patient-centric. COVID-19 has seen the rise of ‘telehealth’ or ‘telemedicine’, applying the use of medical Apps, virtual platforms for health practitioners and treatment for vulnerable populations in rural areas, bringing healthcare to the consumer/patient rather than exposing them to infection.