In January 2005, Thomas Mookken, and his wife had a baby boy, Ayden. By all appearances, Ayden was a normal, healthy child doing what babies do best; sleeping and crying when hungry. The hospital he was born in participated in a Newborn Screening Program and one of the screening tests detected G6PD, an Inborn Error of Metabolism (IEM). G6PD can be fatal in some cases but is very easily treatable. It is estimated there are about 360, 000 births every year in India that test positive for G6PD.

This incident made Thomas realize the power of Newborn Screening (NBS). A simple concept with very beneficial implications; detecting and treating disorders before symptoms appear, thereby saving numerous babies lives. He felt this would have a very big impact in India where over 24 Million babies are born every year. Thomas decided to move to India with his family and asked Dr. Rohit Cariappa to join him in his efforts to promote NBS and its benefits.

They formed NeoGen Labs in June 2006 to offer the First Step Newborn Screening Test to screen babies for IEMs in India, on par with what is currently offered in the West. Over 400, 000 babies (or about 1.5%) born in India each year are affected by a metabolic disorder (Inborn Errors of Metabolism (IEM) – An Indian Perspective by Dr. N. B. Kumta) and many of these babies could lead a normal healthy life if these disorders were detected and treated early. Every baby born in the US is screened and the goal is to do the same for all babies born in India.

To help achieve this goal, NeoGen Labs has entered into an exclusive Technology Licensing Agreement with Pediatrix Screening, Inc., Bridgeville, USA, the world’s leading company for Newborn Screening. They pioneered the use of Tandem Mass Spectrometry (MS/MS) which currently screens for over 42 metabolic disorders, from a single dried blood spot collected on a filter paper 24 to 72 hours after birth. Pediatrix Screening has screened over 3 million babies of all ethnicities, using MS/MS since 1994, and continues to screen over 300, 000 every year. NeoGen Labs has replicated Pediatrix Screening’s facilities at the NeoGen NBS lab in Bangalore.