Medtronic Goes to India to Provide Portable Hemodialysis Systems

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd., a healthcare provider in Asia, and Minneapolis, Minn.-based Medtronic Inc. are collaborating to bring to market an affordable and portable hemodialysis system in India to help improve access to care for end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients who need renal replacement therapy (RRT).

According to Medtronic, this collaboration will leverage one of its own technology platforms supported by clinical insight from Apollo. Specifically, the partnership seeks improved accessibility, outcomes, affordability, operational ease, and environmental protection while providing hemodialysis services to ESRD patients requiring RRT.

Medtronic intends to develop and manufacture key components of this system in India, with an investment of more than $25 million. Medtronic is establishing an India research and development team that will focus on design, development and manufacturing of key components of the system in India. The commercial launch of the product is slated for 2016.

“Our partnership with Medtronic will help in fulfilling our vision of delivering better clinical outcomes through bench-to-bedside innovation,” said Prathap C Reddy, M.D., chairman of Apollo Hospitals. “This alliance reinforces Apollo’s commitment to research-driven healthcare. We are undertaking this landmark initiative to explore opportunities in dialysis solutions to address a critical need with the right, yet affordable treatment as part of our legacy of providing clinical excellence.”

“In the case of hemodialysis, both the cost and lack of mobility of current systems have made broader access to dialysis treatment difficult and expensive,” said Omar Ishrak, chairman and CEO of Medtronic. “Our goal is to build a unique, internally developed system that will be portable, will lower costs, and will be more efficient in its use of water and other critical features than existing dialysis systems. Our collaboration with Apollo allows us to further tailor our system to best meet the needs of patients and physicians in India and will leverage Apollo’s deep expertise and reach in treating ESRD patients.”

In India, approximately 10 percent of adults (nearly 75 million people) suffer from chronic kidney disease, and it is estimated that nearly 200,000 new ESRD patients require dialysis or a kidney transplant every year. In spite of multiple efforts to decrease the high mortality and improve the quality of life of ESRD patients, several important infrastructure and economic barriers have prevented broader access to dialysis treatment in India.

When a patient reaches ESRD, options for survival are very limited unless they receive RRT. The best treatment option for ESRD patients is renal transplant. However, research suggests that only five percent of ESRD patients receive a needed transplant. This gap between demand and supply of organs will only widen over time, as more patients develop kidney disease and enter ESRD.

The next best treatment alternative to RRT for ESRD patients is dialysis, a process that enables the removal of excess metabolic waste, toxins, and water from the blood. Dialysis is performed using two modalities—peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis. Hemodialysis is by far the most widely used treatment option globally and in India. More than 90 percent of patients who undergo dialysis in India receive hemodialysis. Today, the standard frequency of receiving hemodialysis is three sessions a week, each lasting between three to five hours per session. Patients typically receive this therapy in a hospital or stand-alone dialysis centre, with a very limited number of patients receiving therapy at home.