NE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY BUREAU
HYDERABAD, JAN 29
Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad’s Centre for Healthcare Entrepreneurship hosted a ‘Med Tech’ Symposium here on last Saturday (January 25).
The symposium was organised to bring together key leaders in the field of medical and healthcare technologies to discuss the key challenges and developments in the medical devices start-up ecosystem.
Panel discussion
Panel discussions were held on topics including Early Stage Funding, Medical Device Regulatory Aspects, Industry Perspective that will help the start-ups in the domain. The event mainly targets early start-ups and budding entrepreneurs and will serve as a platform to connect with veterans and experts in the field of medical technologies.
Addressing the symposium, Prof. B.S. Murty, Director, IIT Hyderabad, said, “a need was felt to usher in innovation and incubation culture in academic institutions. IIT Hyderabad has always been progressive to address such needs. With strong research in Biomedical Engineering and lot of other members of faculty from other departments engaged in interdisciplinary research in allied areas, it was only appropriate to put identify healthcare as the theme for this endeavour.”
The Foundation for the Center for Healthcare Entrepreneurship (CfHE), is sponsored by two IIT Bombay alumni and is focused on making universal healthcare a reality. The Centre’s objective is to catalyse healthcare innovation to bring about affordable solutions to address healthcare needs of India. The Centre hopes to foster entrepreneurs to deliver a pipeline of cost-efficient solutions, which are increasingly ‘commercialized’.
Prof. U.B. Desai, Head of Operations CfHE, IIT Hyderabad, said, “the event is intended to connect IIT Hyderabad incubated start-ups with investors and Venture Capitalists in the Healthcare Technology sector. It was a great networking opportunity and created a lot of avenues for IITH start-ups. It also provided an exposure to the regulatory environment of the healthcare technology sector.”
The Med Tech Symposium provided an opportunity to learn about future trends, opportunities and the regulatory and industry perspective along with tips on creating a medical device start-up. The event targeted early start-ups and budding entrepreneurs and will serve as a platform to connect with veterans and experts in the field of medical technologies.
Speaking on ‘Foundation for CfHE: Inception and Activities’, Rajesh Mashruwala, Director, CfHE, said, “A personal experience at the hospital long back threw light to the surprising fact that most of the hospital equipment, nearly 80 per cent, were imported. So, healthcare innovation seemed to be the key solution in providing affordable healthcare solutions to all in the country. Centre for Healthcare Entrepreneurship was founded and funded with this goal”.
Dr. Ramesh Byrapaneni, MD ENDIYA Partners participated as guest of honour, said, “New and emerging innovations and smart phone technologies and cloud computing is transforming healthcare into a model that is increasingly patient-centred and transparent. The digitalisation of healthcare and deep tech the healthcare space is the new innovation accelerator, catalysing a transition in the methods of healthcare delivery from the traditional hospital or office-based visitations, to technology-based encounters that are virtual, on-demand, and patient-generated”, a release from the institution said.
