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History

Sketch of Span Diagnostics Limited Plant at Sachin, Surat in 90s by renowned artist Late Shri Jagdeep Smart

The Foundation – Span Diagnostics Limited

In 1972, a startup company called DESAI LABORATORIES was founded by a pathologist, Dr. Pradip K Desai with a goal to indigenously develop and manufacture a comprehensive range of diagnostic reagents needed by Clinical Pathology laboratories. In 1976, the company was reorganised as Span Diagnostics with an emphasis on in-house R&D and to develop more and more products. Span became the first Indian company to manufacture such products indigenously, offering economical and high-quality import substitution, keeping the customer needs in focus and quality under constant vigil. The initial efforts yielded success and Span became private limited company in 1981 and eventually public limited company in 1994.

Concurrently, Span emerged as a leader in Indian In-vitro Diagnostics market. Span maintained a pace with global trends throughout its journey and with  constant innovation, sheer commitment and ethical business practices, was able to establish itself as a name to reckon with in the field of In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) Industry in India and in the world.

The Journey & Milestones

1970-1980

  • The beginning “Desai Laboratories
  • Foundation “Span Diagnostics”
  • Reorganised as Private Company
  • Became first Indian Company – manufacturing reagents needed for pathology laboratories (Analytical Reagents, Blood grouping sera, various infectious dieses tests based in Latex Agglutination and Flocculation technique and Biochemistry tests)
  • Initiated “Not for Profit” Institute of Medical Technology, for education in Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology

1980- 1990

  • Expanded Manufacturing operations by establishing 2ndProduction facility to larger facilities admeasuring 35,000 Square meter of Land
  • Established pan India distribution network
  • Ventured in Laboratory automation systems
  • Initiated “Not for Profit” Institute of Medical Technology, for education offering Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology

1990-2000

  • Listed at Bombay stock exchange
  • Upgraded and expanded Manufacturing facility to larger scale, with latest technologies deploying globally accepted  standards and Quality Management System
  • Ventured in to marketing industrial and research chemicals
  • Became a prominent player in the segment of Big Three Diseases for India namely  “HIV, Malaria, TB”

2000-2010

  • Accreditation for Quality management systems (ISO, CE)
  • Initiated international marketing and increased reach to 90 countries
  • Focussed on “Neglected Diseases” of India and World (Cholera, Kala-Azar, Plague ) and become the first Indian company to manufacture such products
  • Participated in mission launched by India through NACO (National Aids Control Organisation) to control & manage spread of HIV by supplying billions of HIV tests (Combaids), Mission continued for more than 20 years
  • Brought Cell Counter Reagent manufacturing technology to India by collaborating with Nihon Kohden Inc, Japan, a leading medical device company in the world

2010-2015

  • Achieved highest standard in Diagnostics Manufacturing through successful audit and accreditation from WHO-Geneva for c-GMP to become India’s first and the world’s Second diagnostics company to receive such accreditation
  • Contributed by supplying millions of tests in global efforts of combating Malaria, Hepatitis and HIV through UNICEF, WHO, UNESCO, UNHCR, CDC, MSF, USAID, Redcross, Gates Foundation, Clinton Foundation and many such renowned organisations

2015-2020

  • Diagnostics Business sold to Japanese Multinational Company Arkray Inc
  • Renamed from “Span Diagnostics” to “Span Divergent”
  • Reorganised as Holding Company
  • Ventured into diversified business in Food processing, Life science and Agri biotech

2021 onwards

  • Formed separate division – Spanyan Business Assistance to focus on providing CXO services
  • Shaping and nurturing of
    • Dryfruit Factory LLP
    • Biospan Contamination Control Pvt Ltd
    • Spanyan Business Assistance

Gallery : Reminiscing The Past

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Leishmaniasis Rapid Test Launched by Shri P.V. Narsimha Rao (Prime Minister of India)

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Span Exhibiting at Medica 2009

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Span World Class Production Plant at Sachin-Surat in 2012

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Immunology Production using Robotic Machines

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Shri Narendra Modi (Prime Minister of India) with Dr. Pradip Desai in Candid Moment

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Span Manufacturing Plant at Udhna since 1981

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Leaders of Tomorrow Award to Span in Pharmaceuticals & Medical Category - Received by Mr. Veeral Desai

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India's first Filariasis Test Kit Launching Ceremony

Associations & Partnerships

Span has been a Trusted Partner for its customers and associates throughout its existence. It has evolved during various phases of growth with collaborative efforts. Some of our important past associations are as below;

Past Associations

  • Abbot Diagnostics Inc, USA
  • Allmedicus , Korea
  • Associates of Cape Cod Inc., USA
  • Awareness Technologies Inc, USA
  • Biopool Inc, USA
  • Biotecnica Instruments S.r.l, Italy
  • BBI Biomedica Inc, USA
  • Baxter Diagnostics Instruments, USA
  • Corgenix UK Ltd, UK
  • Genbio General Biometrics Inc, USA

Past Associations

  • Hitachi chemical Diagnostics Inc, USA
  • ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc, USA
  • I-stat Inc, USA
  • Intergen Company, USA
  • KPL, USA
  • Murex Diagnostics Ltd , UK
  • Medica Corporation, USA
  • Nihon Kohden Corporation, Japan
  • Remel Inc , USA
  • Zymed Laboratories Inc, USA

Public Private Partnerships:

  • Institute Pasteur, France
  • Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), USA
  • Center for Disease Control and Prevention, USA
  • Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
  • All India Institute of Medical Science, Delhi
  • Anna University, Chennai
  • Delhi University, Delhi

Awards & Recognitions

During the journey, Span received several recognitions. Some major ones are…

Award presented in healthcare category by Mr Narayan Murthy and Mr. B. S. Nagesh for inspiring entrepreneurship and leadership
For featuring in top 500 companies in Small & Medium Business category for outstanding performance
Recognised for successfully adopting technology to develop affordable tests for detecting HIV infection in India
Awarded for successfully establishing Nihon Kohden brand and industry leadership in haematology analyser segment in India