Sapien Biosciences, a niche biotech venture backed by Apollo Hospitals, has entered into a collaboration with a Bangalore-based diagnostic start-up, OncoStem Diagnostics, for the development and validation of a novel Breast cancer recurrence prediction test. OncoStem has developed a unique panel of ‘prognostic and predictive’ proteomic markers that is indicative of the aggressiveness of the cancer and hence enables prediction of the risk of recurrence within the first five years of initial diagnosis. These markers are now being validated using retrospective tumor samples diagnosed with Stage 1, 2 or 3A Breast cancer. OncoStem is collaborating with Sapien to validate this test using such annotated tumor samples with associated treatment and outcomes. Once the test is validated, OncoStem and Sapien will pilot and commercialize this test across the Apollo network. Other recurrence prediction tests such as Oncotype DX (Genomic Health Inc.) and Mammaprint (Agendia Inc.) have been launched globally and have had significant impact in the industry even though these tests only apply to Stage 1 patients who are lymph node negative, hormone receptor positive. OncoStem’s test is a significant innovation in that it can predict recurrences in both lymph node and hormone receptors negative or positive patients and is applicable across all stages of cancer. Announcing this partnership Dr. Jugnu Jain, CSO – Sapien Biosciences said: “Sapien Biosciences was set-up as a bio – repository that will enable the development of cutting – edge diagnostics & therapeutics. The samples and associated medical data that are being systematically collated & ethically banked at Sapien are a very rich resource for the development of such novel diagnostic tests. Recurrence diagnostics in cancer is particularly dependent on the availability of reliable retrospective information which is acutely lacking in India. I am glad that Sapien is filling this huge gap and we are excited to be part of this collaboration with OncoStem to develop such a test that will represent a paradigm shift in Breast cancer treatment.” To highlight the importance of the diagnostic test that OncoStem is developing Dr. Manjiri Bakre, CEO, OncoStem Diagnostics said: “”OncoStem was founded with the vision of developing novel diagnostic tests to predict cancer recurrence, an area of huge unmet medical need. This Breast cancer recurrence diagnostic is the first of many such tests in development across several cancer types and is designed to predict the patients’ risk of cancer recurrence within the first five years of their initial diagnosis, based on the characteristics of their tumor sample. This will in-turn allow optimal & personalized treatment planning for each patient so that risk of such recurrence is minimized. We are excited to be collaborating with Sapien to validate our test using such a valuable resource of samples & associated data which is otherwise extremely difficult to obtain. This partnership will help us realize the potential of our novel diagnostic test and impact millions of Breast cancer patients worldwide.”” Commenting on the partnership, Ms. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals says, “Apollo has been at the forefront of recognizing personalized medicine as the future of healthcare delivery and has been adopting cutting edge diagnostic tests to deliver better patient care & improve outcomes. Sapien was set-up with the vision of enabling such personalized medicine approaches and we are very excited to see this crystallize through partnerships such as this one with OncoStem. Cancer recurrence space is largely unexplored especially in India and needs immediate attention. I look forward to Apollo & Sapien pioneering the introduction & adoption of this important innovation from OncoStem across our network for the benefit of our patients.” The OncoStem Breast cancer recurrence diagnostic test is planned to be launched first within the Apollo network in India, followed by a worldwide launch in a phased manner starting late 2015-early 2016 and is steadily expected to garner market share in the highly lucrative Breast cancer recurrence diagnostic space which is currently valued at $ 3 B globally and is expected to grow at 18% CAGR. Sapien’s agreement with OncoStem includes a preferential launch of the OncoStem test across the Apollo Hospitals network through Sapien. Beside Breast cancer, the Sapien-OncoStem collaboration also anticipates development of several such cutting-edge recurrence diagnostic tests across other cancer types.  

Apollo Hospitals Group and The Republic of Macedonia signed a far-reaching agreement that will raise the standards of healthcare for the reformist Republic and the region. Ms. Anne Marie Moncure, CEO, Southern Region, Apollo Hospitals Group and His Excellency Toni Atanasovski, Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia in India on behalf of its Ministry of Health signed the MoU. The MoU provides for observerships and training courses for medical specialists, nurses, technicians and other health professionals from the Republic of Macedonia at various locations across the Apollo Hospitals network in India. Further the agreement involves the numerous tertiary specialties including – Internal medicine, Surgery, Cardiac surgery, Thoracic surgery, Vascular surgery, Cardiology, Pediatrics, Gynecology, Anesthesiology, Neurosurgery, Orthopedic surgery, Ophthalmology, ENT, Neurology, Dermatology, Radiology, Radiotherapy, Urology, Plastic surgery, Nuclear medicine, Robotics and Transplant. “We have a special relationship with the Republic of Macedonia and have crafted this partnership to bring the benefits of Apollo’s healthcare model to them. The purpose behind this union is to provide quality education, training, and development to healthcare workers of the Republic of Macedonia. We also plan to launch Telemedicine services that will help physicians and patients living in Macedonia. We thank the Government of Macedonia for giving this unique opportunity to collaborate on a range of subjects.” said Ms. Moncure. The initiative was welcomed and appreciated by His Excellency Mr. Atanasovski, who stated that the Republic welcomes the Apollo Group to develop health infrastructure and help in capacity building in the health sector. The Republic of Macedonia has embarked on a series of reforms that will help further develop a sustainable, equitable and technologically advanced healthcare sector that is comparable to OECD and EU standards. The Apollo Group will extend its knowledge and technical expertise, gathered over its 30 years of establishment, to help develop clinical services and conduct specialist training along with second opinions from experts across the Group’s entities.

Asian Alliance Insurance PLC, that is part of the Softlogic Group signed of a Memorandum of Understanding with Apollo Hospitals, India. The unique brand of Asian ‘Health’ Alliance combines the Softlogic entities – Asian Alliance Insurance with Asiri Hospitals and Apollo Hospitals, India and is aimed at creating the premier Health Insurance platform in the country where clients and their families will have access to the best medical attention both locally and overseas. Asiri Hospitals are the market leaders in private healthcare in Sri Lanka with three hospitals in Colombo; Asiri Medical, Asiri Surgical and the flagship “Central Hospital”, in addition to two hospitals in the Southern province. Apollo Hospitals Group, for over thirty one years, has continuously excelled and maintained leadership in medical innovation, world-class clinical services and cutting-edge technology. Apollo hospitals are consistently ranked amongst the best hospitals globally for advanced medical services and research. As a Softlogic Group company, Asian Alliance premium customers – the AAA+ cardholders currently enjoy the benefit for cashless medical treatments, priority service and many other value added services when treated at any of the Asiri Group of Hospitals. The partnership with Apollo Group of Hospitals will enable these customers to enjoy further benefits including pre travel assessment by Asiri Hospital’s authorized physicians, super specialty care at Apollo Hospitals – India, review and follow-up in Sri Lanka, a 10% discount on Apollo preventive checkups, free Online medical opinion services, complimentary airport transfer for direct admissions in India and many more. Apollo Group will also have a representative in Sri Lanka who will act as a liaison for Asian Alliance Life customers who plan to travel to India as they will facilitate visa and other travel services. Speaking at the event, Mr. Iftikar Ahamed, Managing Director of Asian Alliance Insurance PLC said, “We are delighted to have Apollo Hospitals joining us to deliver world class healthcare solutions to our valuable clients. We hope to continue building our Health Insurance proposition which we feel is probably the fastest growing area of insurance and is set to grow dramatically as Sri Lanka per capita rises over the next years. Being the leading Health Insurance provider in the country, we constantly strive to serve our customers with the best products and services to meet their requirements on any occasion. The benefit of an insurance cover that has no country limitations at a time of poor health will be a tremendous boon to our clients.” Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Anne Marie Monecure, Southern Region CEO of Apollo Hospitals Group said, “Disease does not recognize boundaries and it’s critical therefore that modern healthcare recognizes this reality and is delivered in a seamless and collaborative manner to provide superlative care to every patient.” She further stated that “Apollo Hospitals is proud to associate with Asian Alliance Insurance and such an ‘Health Alliance’ is the need of the hour considering the ever increasing disease burden and ever changing disease pattern.”    

The procedure was performed by Dr. Rajesh Fogla, Senior Consultant, Ophthalmologist, Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad using the Ziemer Z6 Femtosecond laser, one of the most advanced laser system from Switzerland. “In our 40s and 50s, one begins to experience the naturally frustrating effects of blurry near vision. Reading the newspaper, ordering off a menu, even grocery shopping becomes a struggle. This is due to Presbyopia, which is the loss of near vision because of the stiffening of the natural lens on account of ageing,” Dr.Fogla pointed out. Reading glasses become necessary for near vision. Besides reading glasses, the other option is mono-vision, which is achieved using contact lens or refractive surgery. However, one of the disadvantages of mono-vision is reduction in distance vision in the eye corrected for near vision, Dr.Fogla said. The inlay is a film-like ring implant with an opening in the center. It is placed inside the cornea. The central opening helps focus the light coming into the eye, improving ability to see clearly at all distances.  

Having undergone three failed surgeries to treat multiple point recurrent cancer of the leg bone in Uzbekistan, 24 year old SobidjOn Juraev had given up all hope of returning to a normal life. The resurgence of the cancer despite several rounds of treatment also posed serious threat of a leg amputation or worse, a disarticulation of the hip. This is when the young man and his family decided to travel to India to seek medical help. In a rare and difficult surgery that lasted for 8 hours, Dr.Rajeev K Sharma, Senior Consultant, Orthopedics & Joint Replacement Surgery along with his team including Dr. V.P Singh, Cancer Surgeon at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi, performed an extremely rare form of Total Femoral Replacement Surgery on Mr. Juraev and removed the entire cancer-affected bone right from the hip to the knee, replacing it with an artificial Total Femoral Replacement implant. The difficult surgery which was a combination of Hip & Knee Replacement has cured the patient of cancer, eliminating the risk of a permanent disability. A failure to get rid of the cancer affected bone would have led to two eventualities: either a disarticulation of the hip (surgical removal of the entire lower limb at the hip level) or an amputation of the leg to save the life of the man. However, both these situations would have resulted in permanent disability. “We examined the patient thoroughly and discovered that the cancer in the Right femur bone had recurred. Now, it was at three points in the right femur bone between the hip and the knee, necessitating an amputation which would have been a life-long disability for the young man,” said Dr Rajeev K Sharma, Senior Consultant, Orthopedics & Joint Replacement Surgeon at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi. “Total Femoral Replacement in this case was a very difficult and rare surgery as it was a kind of a combination of hip replacement, knee replacement and thigh bone replacement. To be able to get rid of the cancer completely, we needed to remove the entire stretch of thigh bone from the right hip to the right knee and reconstruct the same artificially. It was a challenging surgery as it involved the removal of the whole thigh bone at the same time. The challenges included threat of post-surgical infection, knee and hip instability and damage to the nerves and vessels of the area. However, in an 8-hour procedure, we successfully removed the full cancerous thigh bone and replaced it with an artificial Total Femoral Implant,” added Dr Sharma. The patient is responding well to the surgery and hopes to get back to his normal youthful life soon.  

Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, Kolkata has received the official letter of Accreditation from the Joint Commission International (JCI). The third time Triennial Survey was conducted from February 9 – 13, 2015 by four surveyors – Ms Angela Norton, Dr Stewart Hamilton, Ms Courtney Cosby and Ms Marianne Semrad. The surveyors said, “the organization performed exceptionally well in providing safe and effective care to the patients. The organization met 100% in the standards and over 99.6% of the measurable elements”. The incredible journey of Joint Commission Reaccreditation bears a testimony to the months of hard work from all levels of physicians, nurses and other staff in the hospital and their unflinching determination to provide best and safest care to patients. The fact was highlighted even more by the responses from patients and families on the quality of care provided in the hospital during the survey that left the surveyors mesmerized.  

Apollo Gleneagles Institute of Gastroenterology, Kolkata, one of the renowned names in the field has reinforced its commitment of pioneering various new initiatives and technology in the region by launching the globally renowned “”Cellvizio Technology”” for the first time in India, in association with Mauna Kea Technologies, global market leaders in the optical biopsy market. Cellvizio is a probe-based Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (pCLE) system that provides physicians and researchers high-resolution cellular views of tissue inside the body. With Cellvizio, a microscope is threaded through an endoscope to enable physicians to see real-time what normally is seen under a microscope. The Cellvizio Technology was launched by Dr. Mahesh Goenka, Director, Apollo Institute of Gastroenterology and the first doctor in the country to use this technology. Dr. Rupali Basu, President & CEO, Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals and Eastern Region, Apollo Hospitals, India was also present during the occasion. Today, leading physicians around the world are using this flexible, fibre-optic probe-based microscope device called Cellvizio. Cellvizio magnifies the tissue up to thousand times, providing physicians additional real-time information about the tissue microstructure. The Cellvizio technology can be used to assess the tissue both in the digestive system as well as the pulmonary tract. Until now, this hasn’t been always possible with traditional endoscopic imaging technologies. Benign, pre-cancerous and cancerous lesions are often indistinguishable from each other upon endoscopy unless viewed at the cellular level. Cellvizio is indeed a complete Endomicroscopy platform that can benefit endoscopists from different fields who seek one common goal: to detect disease earlier and improve patient outcomes. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Mahesh Goenka, Director, Apollo Gleneagles Institute of Gastroenterology said, “This is great news for our patients. Optical biopsy with Cellvizio can now be used for improved patient management in several key gastroenterological indications and I am proud to be the first doctor in the country to provide such advanced care”. Dr. Rupali Basu, CEO, Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals further added, “The addition of Cellvizio is a great example of how we continue to break new grounds in India. An endoscopy is a technique which is an integral part of medical treatment. Cellvizio is a step to advance this technology further. Endoscopy is very vital to detecting a disease or condition deep within the body and the subsequent treatment depends on the outcome of this procedure. However, before the introduction of Cellvizio, a truly microscopic view of the inner body may not have been possible in most cases. Since Cellvizio combines both endoscopy and microscopy, the outcome is certainly more accurate and definitive. Also, patients want their physicians to be able to diagnose or rule out a problem during an examination and then treat the problem as fast as possible without the need to come back for a separate procedure. This was not possible earlier in the absence of Cellvizio.”  

Medvarsity, India’s first Medical e-learning venture was established in April 2000 and is an initiative by Apollo Hospitals Group. Medvarsity’s online education portal has been pivotal in enhancing the standard of medical practice, education and research by strengthening the post graduate medical education and continued medical education. Students enrolled in 2011 – 12 & 2012 – 2013 will be eligible for the MLCU certification. With this added value of an affiliation with an UGC recognized university like MLCU, Medvarsity now plans to re-engineer some of its courses to suit the fast changing requirements. Medvarsity delivers Information Technology based quality education to the Health Care Providers (HCP) at any distance and to facilitate cutting edge research in delivery of medical education. It complements the existing education system for the health care providers. Students both domestic and international can enroll for Medvarsity programs for further education or career advancement at work. Over 32000 students have benefitted from continuing medical education through top quality validated content provided by Medvarsity. The students have been able to strengthen basic conceptual foundation of the undergraduates, postgraduates and other HCPs. By applying information technology tools and computer based solutions for the simplification of complex subjects, Medvarsity seeks to facilitate the learning process across the network of delivery points spread across the country. This obviates the need for geographical relocation of health care professionals.  

Over 100,000 Indians are diagnosed with blood cancer which is quite alarming. Stem cell donation, even though relatively new, has the capacity to increase survival chances of cancer patients. When 17 year old Ankit was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a form of blood cancer, little did he know that a stranger from Ahmedabad would be his saviour and help him conquer cancer. 24 year old Jinal Patel, had registered with DATRI hoping that someday a precious life might hopefully find use of her cells. Today, Ankit is cured of cancer and Ms Patel is grateful that she had the opportunity to help him. Expressing her feelings, the donor said, “Donating blood stem cells doesn’t affect a donor’s health is a fact unknown to many. It is the best feeling in the world to save a life and be responsible to our community.” Senior Consultant, Paediatric Hematology Dr. Revathi Raj who treated the patient said, “”There is still some amount of stigma associated with cancer which can be eliminated only by increasing awareness on the treatment procedures and highlighting successful case stories which will break the taboo associated with cancer. Significant improvements have occurred in the treatment of childhood cancers and we now have the technology and infrastructure to enable the treatment of several blood related disorders. While earlier we had to depend mostly on foreign registries to find an unrelated matched donor, where the probabilities of a match are lower, we now have a viable option of DATRI. DATRI has helped find donors for 17 paediatric patients who got treated in Apollo Chennai and most of these children have survived. She also congratulated DATRI on their tremendous effort.”” DATRI is India’s largest registry of voluntary blood stem cell donors. DATRI has successfully created the largest and credible database of 70000 voluntary donors from diverse ethnic backgrounds and has successfully facilitated 82 transplants.

Apollo Sugar is a disease management clinic focused on providing high quality, integrated care across its clinics for people with diabetes. ASCL is a Subsidiary of Apollo Health & Lifestyle, the arm of the Apollo Hospitals Group that is driving its rapid growth in primary and secondary healthcare. In India, Diabetes afflicts over 65 million citizens, and in addition to this over 77 million people have been diagnosed as being pre-diabetic. These numbers are still growing significantly and the total number of Diabetics in India is expected to rise to 109 million by 2035. Apollo Sugar offers access to an integrated Diabetes care solution via a combination of high quality clinical infrastructure including early detection and protocol driven treatment of Diabetes, complemented by a robust set of lifestyle management programs. Through this investment, both Apollo and Sanofi would endeavour to expand Apollo Sugar to provide superior value to patients and Doctors with an enhanced geographic reach, and provide high quality outcome oriented set of services. Commenting on the collaboration, Dr. Prathap Reddy, Chairman and Founder, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “Over the years, Apollo Hospitals has benchmarked global best practices in quality healthcare delivery with stringent alignment to approved standards and protocols. With the increasing burden of Diabetes in our society, we need to act quickly and with a sense of purpose to arrest the disease from claiming more lives. I am confident that with this investment, Apollo Sugar Clinics is even better positioned to offer patients advanced care and counselling for Diabetes management. This is a good start towards improving the Diabetes management programme in India and I am delighted to be partnering with Sanofi, a global leader in Diabetes management. Our shared vision will provide a new approach to Diabetes care to benefit patients in India and other parts of the world.” Ms.Sangita Reddy, Chairperson, Apollo Sugar and Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals said “We have presented at the American Diabetes Association conference and have been recognized for delivering exceptional clinical outcomes in managing Diabetes, some of which were attempted and successful for the first time in India. However, we as a country are still battling with the image of being the Diabetes capital of the world. We understand that a diagnosis of Diabetes and pursuit of necessary lifestyle changes is daunting for patients. At Apollo Sugar, a patient with Diabetes has access to information, the right treatment, co-morbidities management, counselling, care and treatment to sustainably manage diabetes. We are now keen to take Apollo Sugar’s comprehensive offering to many more parts of India.” Commenting on the investment by Sanofi, Mr.Neeraj Garg, Chief Executive Officer of Apollo Health & Lifestyle said “At Apollo Sugar, we offer best in class clinical care delivered in our conveniently located facilities, and combine it with a comprehensive, 360° patient lifestyle management program to help patients to successfully manage Diabetes and avoid related complications. The investments made by Sanofi and the strong support of both our shareholders, enables us to grow our footprint to offer our services at many more clinics across India, and provide millions of Diabetic customers access to world class care at their doorstep.”  

Nova Specialty Hospital’s existing centres will serve as new centres under the Apollo brand & will benefit from Apollo’s legacy of expertise, clinical excellence and empathy. This acquisition fits into the growth strategy of AHLL, providing a larger footprint, including in some markets where the company has no presence currently. Commenting on this strategic move, Ms. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director – Apollo Hospital Enterprises Limited said, “AHLL is currently present in the secondary care segment through the Day Surgery & Cradle formats. Given the immense potential and the need for quality healthcare delivery closer to the home, this acquisition will enable AHLL to significantly expand its’ footprint and will catapult it into a leadership position in this segment of healthcare. We believe the format has strong potential and with the brand equity of Apollo, combined with the deep hospital expertise we bring to bear, AHLL will grow this business significantly in the next few years. There is strong synergy between NSH format and the tertiary care hospitals and we intend to capture these synergies to the benefit of the patients we serve, and Doctors we partner with. This acquisition will also mark the entry of Apollo in new markets such as Mumbai, Jaipur and Kanpur, where we have for many years had patients waiting for Apollo’s medical excellence and compassionate care to serve them”. In the coming months, Apollo will re-launch these centres with new branding, an expanded menu of services and quality systems built on Apollo’s deep expertise in the hospitals space.” “Nova Specialty Hospitals is a chain of 11 Short Stay Surgery Centres which are equipped with advanced medical facilities backed by good surgical teams. These Centres are designed to provide convenient facilities for patients to undergo planned surgeries. In addition, AHLL will strengthen the service offerings in these centres by introducing Apollo’s Preventive Health Checks and also establishing Sugar Clinics. AHLL is aiming to create a business of Rs 500 crs in 5 years in the space of multi-specialty Short stay/Day surgery centres.”” said Mr Neeraj Garg, Chief Executive Officer, Apollo Health & Lifestyle Ltd. The acquired chain of Nova Specialty Hospitals is spread over 8 cities and will add to the Apollo network 45 Modular OTs, over 350 patient beds, with an average 20,000 sq.ft of built-up space in each centre. These centres provide both In-patient and OPD services with 60% of the procedures currently being done as day procedures. Mr. Suresh Soni, Chairman Nova Medical Centres said, “Nova Specialty Hospitals were early movers in the concept of Short Stay Surgeries in India. The main focus was making quality health care affordable and accessible to the masses. Nova had established a pan India footprint with 11 centres, over 800 surgical procedures, 500+ doctors in 5 years. The Apollo Group is now in a position to accelerate NSH’s growth given its position as the pre-eminent hospital group with a well-established brand. I am glad and satisfied that Nova’s Specialty Hospitals are in the best possible hands and care to grow from here.” The Apollo Hospitals group has always been proactive in offering healthcare to meet the changing patterns of diseases and constantly strives to make quality medical care accessible to all. Through this acquisition, AHLL delivers on its promise to create newer ways to deliver high quality healthcare, through enhanced service delivery models, which will benefit the entire health eco-system including its physicians & patients.

Life was not the same when 69 years old Mr. Gobardhan Sharma was diagnosed with cancer of base of tongue. The family said it was truly saddening to witness him go through the agony. The views and opinions expressed by different people about his cancer and its treatment added to his pain. Approximately 500,000 people worldwide are diagnosed with head and neck cancers each year. In India, 20 to 40% of cancers arise in the head and neck region. Treatment of head and neck cancer often involves a combination of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Though greatest chance of cure can be achieved with surgical removal of the cancer in most of the cases, traditional open surgical approaches require long incisions in the neck or splitting the jaw, resulting in speech and swallowing problems. In comparison, Trans Oral Robotic Surgery (TORS) is a minimally invasive treatment option which accesses and removes the cancer through the mouth. TORS has been shown to improve long term swallowing function, reduce risk of infection and fastens the recovery time. TORS was developed by Dr Gregory Weinstein and Dr. Bert O’Malley in 2004 at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (PENN) and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2009. During TORS, the surgeon uses a sophisticated, computer-enhanced system which displays a magnified, 3-D view of the surgical area that enables him to visualize the procedure in much greater detail than in a traditional surgery. TORS gives the surgeon an enhanced view of the cancer and surrounding tissue. Using a robotic system to guide the surgical tools, allows for more-precise movements in narrow spaces and the capability to work around corners. This result in preservation of maximum amount of healthy muscular and neurovascular tissue which helps the patient swallow on their own sooner and discharged home earlier. Mr. Gobardhan Sharma’s cancer was successfully resected with TORS by Dr Venkatakarthikeyan C, Consultant ENT – Head & Neck Surgeon and his team. (Dr Venkatakarthikeyan was trained by Drs. Weinstein and O’Malley at PENN in Trans Oral Robotic Surgery). The patient’s recovery was remarkable. He is now pain free, eating normally and has adequate speech performance.