Premas Life Sciences: India’s Top Brand in Molecular Biology, Genetics & Genomics Solutions

Tell us about the inception of Premas Life Sciences.

Incepted in 2011 by a team of highly experienced and proficient professionals, Premas Life Sciences Private Limited (PLS) is a young, dynamic and focused organization engaged in sales and distribution of molecular biology, genetics, genomics and proteomics state-of-the-art solutions for the Indian Research and applied markets. Its major claim to fame has been its robust partnership with the global genomics leader Illumina Inc. for the past many years, which has fostered an entire ecosystem of cutting-edge research, service models and employment for many.

What challenges did you face during the initial period?

The foundation of Premas was laid down when the ‘start-up culture’ was not a buzz word. The biggest challenge was to establish the value proposition of a very niche technology (i.e. Next Generation Sequencing) at a time when it was completely new to the Indian market. Changing the course of traditional research and widening the acceptability for NGS was for sure challenging.

What kind of growth Premas Life Sciences has seen over the years?

Over the years, PLS’s dedicated and persistent client-centric approach has transformed this enterprise from a young start-up to an established leader with a CAGR of 60% in a very short span of time. The most important milestone for us has been to be an integral part of building the genomics space in India from scratch to approx 450 Crore industry employing 3-4,000 people. Established 10+ service providers ensuring Indian samples remained in India.

How do you differentiate your products from competitors?

As an organization, we have found our zenith in exploring extremely niche technologies and introducing them in India to create a research-based need, rather than just serving an existential need. So far, We’ve brought leading global technologies like 10x Genomics for Single Cell research, Codex for Automated Gene Synthesis, Fluidigm for high-parametric Mass Cytometry – now easily accessible for Indian research community to perform high-quality research. We are also strong in terms of our prominent technical customer support and we boast of our team’s ability of handholding our customers through some of the toughest experiment setups.

What are the current challenges faced by the company?

When we began, the 2 major obstacles were attracting talent as well as customers because for both the groups we were a new, unknown and untested brand. Over time, our vision for the future, our passion coupled with the technical prowess helped us establish faith in our customers ultimately conquering these hurdles down the line. In today’s time, the challenges surround very much around the uncertain times that we’re living in. Everything including the market is quite unpredictable so we are trying our best to keep our boat sailing.

Challenges posed by COVID-19 for Premas Life Sciences

Honestly, the COVID19 pandemic has been disruptive globally. The struggle for survival is a long persistent one. But every crisis presents an opportunity – and we’re glad that we could repurpose our core-competent areas to venture into closely affiliated new opportunities and quickly adapted to the dynamic market needs.

How are you dealing with these challenges?

In times like these, it’s difficult to be positive and motivated each day. The mental exhaustion can easily bog you down. So, it’s important to keep your flock together. We try to be in touch with our team every alternate day to assure their well-being, assuring that nobody’s feeling left out. Our mutually appreciative work culture helps keeping each other’s spirits lifted up.

How do you keep up the pace with changing market trends?

Staying abreast of the market is half your job done. While one can retain their core competency areas, it is important to diversify beyond these. It is important to invest in new ideas with potential to lay a foundation for future business opportunities.

What are the plans of Premas Life Sciences for the short-term future?

We are looking at diversifying further into the clinical diagnostics and Biopharma space, and also delve into the manufacturing space in future.

What legacy does Premas Life Sciences hope to create?

We are really hoping to create a space where technology can be used to answer important problems in science and how it influences people’s lives. In addition, we also believe in fostering the spirit of science among students and young adults through our scientific outreaches as science and tech form the backbone of economic and social development of any country, and we would definitely like PLS, in its own unique capacity, to contribute to the India story.

For more information, please log on to www.premaslifesciences.com