India has a support ecosystem for startups and entrepreneurs, particularly in the health tech sector, but what it needs is speed to allow innovation to enter the market much faster.
In a panel discussion on 'Made in India, Made for the World', during the 'THE WEEK Health Summit 2024', the entrepreneurs shared their experiences in running their start-ups. They were unanimous in their arguments that though the regulatory frameworks exist in the country, they need speed and bigger financial infusions to solve the problems.
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Padmini Janaki, CEO and Co-founder of Mind & Mom, said, “Rules are always good, so are the frameworks. We have some framework to show to the world saying our product is approved in India. But what we need is a lot of speed, when it comes to approvals. Time is everything in startups. When I raise funds, I cannot wait for months, otherwise we would be out of business.”
Arindam Sen, Director Heartnet, India, too agreed on the speed at which the approvals should come in. He said a lot of learning has come in the last a few years, but still same regualtions apply to different set of trials. There should be separate classification for drugs and devices.
Dr Karthik Ramesh of CardioBionic and Co-founder Eminus EGlobal said the difference between India and other countries, like the UAE is the interest shown in developing products. Ramesh said Indian incubators like those in the IITs were producing world-class products, but after that there was little support to turn them market-ready.
“UAE has vision 2030, when they talk about their country being number one country in several domains including healthcare. They even have a ministry for AI and even for values. Higher rebates are available there. Indian incubators have a lot of ground to cover.”
While the big pharmas were focused on prevalent diseases, rare diseases don't get enough attention and it is where startups like Peptris come in. Narayana Venkatasubramanian, founder of Peptris, said their work is engagement with parents (of children with rare diseases) and research labs to speed up solutions.
His vision for the future is to allowing N of 1 trials so that medical solutions reach the patients much faster.
In the panel discussion moderated by THE WEEK's senior correspondent Nirmal Jovial, there was consensus that the entrepreneurs be provided with financial backing and resources can be a springboard, helping them address real-world challenges and bring innovative solutions, like affordable artificial hearts, to market.
For this greater collaboration between private and public sectors, such as partnerships between government bodies like ICMR and private organizations, could help foster a supportive ecosystem for startups. Another area could be the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds from larger companies could be directed to support startups, creating a mutually beneficial model where medical startups receive funding and established companies gain innovative solutions.