The pandemic has shown that healthcare innovation is critical across the globe
Cecilia Oskarsson, Trade Commissioner of Sweden to India for Business Sweden in an interaction with Kalyani Sharma talks about the journey of India Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre and highlights that start-ups often require good mentoring and funding to reach up to the level of a recognised entity. In this regard, it is important for them to receive all possible support on multiple accounts
Walk us through the journey of India Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre
Launched in December 2019, the India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre (ISHIC) is the culmination of the long-standing MoU between the two countries that has taken a shape of a tripartite collaboration between the Swedish Trade Commissioner’s Office, AllMS New Delhi and AIIMS Jodhpur with AstraZeneca as knowledge partner. ISHIC is envisioned to develop an ecosystem of open innovation for start-ups and the healthcare delivery stakeholders to use to collaborate and address current and future challenges in the healthcare sector in India. Through this platform we enable development and scale up of solutions through frugal innovation for affordable and accessible healthcare in line with the objectives of the Government of India. The Centre has the blessings of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India and the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, Govt. of Sweden, both of whom are on the Governing Council of the Centre.
Please brief us about the evaluation process carried out by the centre while selecting the start-ups.
The innovation Centre annually invites applications for an Innovation Challenge through a large ecosystem of partners across India and Sweden. A rigorous screening process is carried out with the Advisory board and evaluation committee that has representation from all core partners. A total of 24 start-ups have been on boarded through our 2 challenges so far, 14 Start-ups identified from 460 applications in the 1st challenge that are currently being mentored and another 10 were handpicked out of 700 applications for our 2nd cohort.
These start-ups are evaluated based on several parameters including, fit within the problem statement, current stage and support required, passion of the founder amongst others.
Which have been the most impactful Indian start-ups providing COVID-19 solutions that India Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre helped bring to fruition since the pandemic started?
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Blackfrog Technologies has developed EMVÓLIO – a portable, battery-powered refrigeration device. The COVID-19 vaccination program has been disrupted in many states of the country. One of the primary causes of disruption is vaccine wastage. During transportation of vaccines, maintaining an optimal temperature is a challenge which leads to spoilage of vaccines. Unlike a conventional cold box, EMVÓLIO’s patented design ensures that the contents in the cold chamber strictly maintain a pre-set temperature for up to 12 hours for last-mile transport of COVID-19 vaccines to remote areas of the country.
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Qure.ai works with enhancing imaging accuracy and improving health outcomes with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence. Their technology enables automated interpretation of radiology exams for healthcare professionals, enabling faster diagnosis.
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Dozee has created a remote monitoring solution through a small sheet that can be inserted beneath the mattress. This solution can convert any bed into a step-down ICU in a matter of few minutes. Their Early Warning system helps save nursing time and assist doctors in analysing records maintained manually by enabling hospitals digitally monitor vitals, critical care automation, improved clinical outcomes as well as patient safety with their step-up ICUs. Manual effort and the time spent by nurses in monitoring the readings are considerably reduced.
Can you throw some light on achieving a balance between self-reliance and global relevance, given that Indian start-ups could be relevant for other geographies and will need to tap global markets to achieve scale at some point in their life cycle?
While delivering effectively in India and contributing to the healthcare needs of the domestic markets, the start-ups are in parallel also getting geared up to expand also within the global horizon. AstraZeneca being the knowledge partner of this initiative enables the onboarded Start-ups get access to international markets and network of Healthcare Innovation Hubs through its Global A-Catalyst Network. We have already seen multiple success stories through this collaboration and expansion into the global network.
How crucial is the role of bilateral initiatives in identifying and facilitating innovative solutions that could help regress critical problems in the healthcare delivery landscape of India?
The pandemic has shown that healthcare innovation is critical across the globe. Through the bilateral collaborations we can exchange the best practices and innovative solutions across boundaries. The cross-country collaboration also helps in enabling the start-ups to grow on an international scale much faster. The support from government from both the countries also helps in clearing many roadblocks and make way for the growth journey to get propelled thus, contributing to the overall good of society and economies as well.
What are the major challenges and need of the hour as far as the start-up ecosystem in India is concerned?
Start-ups often require good mentoring and funding to reach up to the level of a recognised entity. In this regard, it is important for them to receive all possible support on multiple accounts ranging from basics of setting up legal entities to receiving the right know-how of processes and protocols up along the way to the point of funds that help them scale up. The regulatory approvals and clinical validation also appear to be of prime importance especially in the healthcare space.
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