Science & Technology Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan Calls for Medical Technology Innovations to be taken Forward as part of the Make-in-India

Introduction

The Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has called for various Medical Technology (Med-Tech) Innovations developed by the Department of Biotechnology to be taken forward for Make-in-India. Sharing details on several such new affordable products of public health relevance, at a Press Conference in New Delhi today, he said innovations in health care and medical technology are especially of paramount importance to achieve self reliance. The Minister said the ‘Make in India’ initiative led by the Prime Minister aims to transform the country and propel the country to greater heights through social and economic growth 

Dr. Harsh Vardhan informed the gathering that 

• Medical Technology industry in India is currently the fourth largest in Asia; and India was valued at US$6.3 billion in 2013 

• Growing at 10-12% per year until 2025 implies an overall healthcare spend of US$250-350 billion; 

• Current penetration levels of 8% implies a domestic market of $20–25 billion; 

• Globally the medical technology market is expected to be $600 billion by 2025 implying a manufacturing base of $200 billion by then; 

• India will capture 10% of that share by 2025 in line with China’s share today. This will lead to an opportunity of at least $20 billion by 2025; 

• Indian device market consists of medical instruments, orthopedic and ophthalmic devices, syringes, needles, catheters, scanning devices and bandages; 

The Press Conference was also attended by Dr. Vijay Raghavan, Secretary, DBT, and other senior DBT officials. 

Realizing the need for Medical Technology innovation, the Department of Biotechnology is promoting this sector by supporting various programmes across the country which have successfully resulted in affordable products of societal and public health relevance. 

This area has seen a large number of successful scientists’ entrepreneurs and young start-ups building their own enterprises. The complete value chain form product innovation to commercialization has been facilitated and today we have about 40 medical devices and diagnostics some of which have received USFDA clearance, said the Secretary, DBT, Dr. Vijay Raghavan. He made a presentation giving details of the programme being undertaken by the department and various products developed under it. He said collaborations have been with AIIMS and various IITs for development of in-vitro diagnostic tools, implants and other medical devices. 

Speaking on the occasion the Executive Director of the School of International Bio-design, Dr. Balram Bhargava of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences said their objective is to promote Global, Affordable, Need Driven, Health Innovation (GANDHI). He said one 110 Innovators have been trained, 34 medical devices have been developed and 51 Provisional Patents have been obtained as they are trying to achieve the objective of Make in India by developing low cost medical devices for the common man. More than 10 Med-Tech Products (devices & diagnostics) supported by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) have been commercialized. 

Some of the products commercialized include: a) Fecal Incontinence-a new standard of care for management of fecal incontinence; b) Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation Device-an integrated automated resuscitation system usable in resource constrained environment; c) BioScoop-a soft tissue biopsy device for concurrent biopsy and hemostasis; d) HiCare LIMO:a simple, disposable and cost effective device which temporarily immobilizes the lower limbs of the patients; e) Intraosseous device-an alternative to intravenous (IV) in emergency patients; f) AINA device-to measure blood glucose, HbA1C, lipids, Creatinine and Haemoglobin; g) Maxico for tumor ablation-device for execution procedure for tumor ablation; h) POC diagnostic for Malaria, Dengue & Typhoid; i) Fibroheal-a device for burn wound management. These products were displayed at the Press Conference today. 

Bio-design programme is one of the examples of inclusive medical technology innovation. This is based on a novel approach of end-to-end process that begins with idea generation through clinical immersion up to commercialization by a multi-disciplinary team comprising a physician, engineer, product designer, and an entrepreneur. The objective of this programme is to train next generation of medical technology innovators who will in turn focus on invention and early stage development of low cost new medical technologies for the Indian population. The aim is to develop simple, rapid, indigenous, low cost medical devices and implants by applying four (4) components i.e. affordability, accessibility, availability and appropriateness. 

Under this initiative, several indigenous technologies have been developed to address unmet medical needs of India. International collaborations have been established with Stanford University, USA; QUT, Australia; and Tottori University, Japan. 

The Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre (HTIC) established at IIT-Madras is delivering innovations and technologies that are reaching the field through government and industry partnerships, bringing benefits to lives and our society. 

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) a Public Sector Undertaking set-up by the Department has supported nearly 300 Start-up’s and SME”s and 150 young entrepreneurs for innovation, research and product development. The biotech startup scenario in India was transformed by BIRAC’s flagship schemes- BIG, SBIRI, BIPP, CRS and SPARSH which have resulted more than 30 Products, 20 Technologies, 16 Early Stage-Technologies. (two) 2 Process Innovations, 40 IP. 

Source

Press Information Bureau, 12 January, 2016