Medical laboratories are analyzing the situation – Newspaper Kommersant No. 144 (7345) dated 10.08.

The Krasnoyarsk network of medical laboratories ABV decided to go beyond the home market and develop business in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where it plans to open up to 30 branches by the end of this year. In these cities, competition is high, market participants warn. Another challenge during this crisis for the segment was the high dependence on imports and the fall in the solvency of consumers.

“MO ABV Center” received a license to open five departments of a medical laboratory in Moscow, the same permission to open four facilities in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region was issued by LLC “Medofisy ABV North-West”, found “Kommersant” in the SPARK-Interfax database . These legal entities are part of the Krasnoyarsk network of ABV Laboratories, owned by the owner of the pharmaceutical distributor Cosmofarm, Igor Varlamov. According to the ABC website, three branches in Moscow are already operating, and four more are preparing to open. Prior to this, the network had no offices outside of its home region.

Mr. Varlamov confirmed to Kommersant that by the end of this year, ABC will open about 30 points in Moscow and St. Petersburg, 15-20 of them in the capital. According to him, this year the network plans to enter the Irkutsk region. DSM Group CEO Sergey Shulyak estimates the required investment in the opening of one biomaterial collection point at about 300 thousand rubles. Invitro offers its partners to open franchise branches with investments of 1.5-5.4 million rubles, in Gemotest – 2.2-3.5 million rubles.

ABV is the leader in the Krasnoyarsk market, but recently federal players have increased their presence in the region, says Mr. Varlamov. The network has 16 offices in Krasnoyarsk, Invitro has 23, Gemotest has 17, KDL has eight. At the same time, Mr. Varlamov admits that in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where his network aims, competition is high. The networks have expanded to include COVID-19-related tests, he points out, adding that ABC does not rely on these services.

Gemotest confirms that the metropolitan market is saturated with laboratory departments. This year, the network has opened more than 300 new offices, of which 17% are in Moscow and the Moscow region. Since the beginning of this year, Invitro has opened more than 160 new offices – this is 80% more than a year ago, Helix – 117 new outlets, almost the same as in the whole of 2021, their representatives said.

Tests related to COVID-19 have recently been in relatively less demand due to the lifting of restrictive measures, says Philip Sapronov, sales director of Invitro. But the demand for basic tests, which have always been emphasized, has increased, he notes. Helix, according to Daria Goryakina, deputy general director of the network’s laboratory service, has grown in demand for routine research and preventive diagnostics.

According to BusinesStat, 116.9 million people used laboratory diagnostic services in 2021, up 9% year-on-year. In the current year, the main challenges for the market in the company are the high dependence on imports and the fall in the solvency of consumers. Because of this, the commercial sector will be forced to focus on maintaining the existing network of laboratories and sales offices, rebuild supply chains and restrain the growth of the average check for as long as possible, the study says.

According to Sergei Shulyak, the number of test points will grow, because a convenient location near home or work is important for the patient. This, the expert does not exclude, may lead to a decrease in the average check and attendance, and consequently to a decrease in the profitability of the medical laboratory department, but will increase the network load as a whole.

Polina Gritsenko