Apollo Hospitals on the hunt for Health Street ally

Apollo Hospitals Enterprises is seeking a strategic partner for its information technology-based-solutions subsidiary Apollo Health Street.

The ally is being inducted for strategic reasons, not just capital.
“We are not looking to just raise money by roping in a partner. The partner is going to be for strategic reasons. We can’t give more details at this point,” Prathap C Reddy, Apollo’s chairman, told DNA.

The company was keen on a foreign partner, he said.
Apollo Health Street Ltd develops IT-based solutions for healthcare organisations.

It offers revenue cycle outsourcing, focused outsourcing, third-party, EMS billing, follow-up and private pay, and several such solutions that would primarily help in hospital management.
Apollo Health Street was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Hyderabad with operations in various locations in India and the US.

Sources have also been talking about a consolidation strategy that is being worked out by Apollo Hospitals.

The strategy, according to sources, was to consolidate the holdings in various hospitals managed by Apollo with an eventual objective of owning the hospitals fully instead of managing the hospitals with joint venture partners.

Refusing to comment on the status of the strategy, Reddy said, “I will not talk about it. Don’t make things expensive for me.”

Meanwhile, Apollo has joined hands with the US-based healthcare and regenerative medicine major Cytori Therapeutics.

As part of the alliance, Apollo would introduce Cytori’s cell regenerative technology for the first time in India.

“Though there are conventional techniques like stem cell from bone marrow, Cytori has developed the technology for separating stem cells from adipose or fat tissue. “This would mark a new beginning of regenerative medicine in India. The technology helps in collecting the adipose tissue and using it for regenerating the spoilt tissue,” Reddy said.

Adipose tissue is the fatty material in a human body and the obese individuals normally get it removed through liposuction techniques. However, the Cytori team now assures that the tissue, which is otherwise removed, can be used for real-time regeneration of tissue.

“Whether it is for cosmetic reasons to uplift someone’s face or any other body parts or even to treat the damaged body parts including those de-shaped due to radiation necrosis, the adipose tissue can be effectively used. We are still conducting trials on using the technique in curing heart attacks. Unlike in other stem cell techniques, where it needs a culture for about 45 days, the adipose tissue can be immediately used for cell regeneration,” a senior Cytori official said.

Apollo and Cytori are also working on expanding their relationship to conducting clinical trials on the technique in curing ailments like myocardial infraction. “We are yet to get the approvals. We will approach the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for going ahead with the trials,” Reddy said.

Apollo is likely to offer cosmetic and medical application of the Cytori’s regenerative therapy for about `1 lakh. However, Cytori is also planning to tie up with more healthcare institutions in India for offering the technology apart from tying up with medical equipment manufacturers to manufacture some of the consumables in India.

“Once we get the scale, then the consumables would be made here,” the Cytori official said.