Department of Biotechnology Archives - InnoHEALTH magazine

17 startups, five student innovators win bio-entrepreneurship contest

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 01:32:59 +0000

New Delhi, Dec 20 (India Science Wire): Seventeen startups and five student innovators have been declared winners in this year’s National Bio Entrepreneurship Competition (NBEC). Now in its 5 th year, the competition is an annual showcase of promising business ideas with commercial, innovation, and impact potentials in the life sciences and biotech domain.

NBEC is organized by the Government of India’s Department of Biotechnology’s
Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) to identify and nurture game-changing deep science ideas with business potential. It receives support from national and international partners with some of the biggest names in the biotech industry in India coming on board. This year, 34 of such enterprises supported it.

The winning startups stand to receive a cumulative sum of Rs. 8.6 crore in cash prizes and investment opportunities, while the student-led teams swooped up a sum of Rs. 14.5 lakhs in cash prizes. Additionally, C-CAMP will conduct a one-year Programme for the winners, which will comprise of mentorship including one month of incubation. Among other ecosystem support, the competition will provide access to industry mentorship in tie-ups with key industry leaders to all winners.

Forty-six finalist pitches were judged for novelty, scalability, and business potential parameters. These were culled from 322 in a regional qualifying round. The winners join an illustrious cohort of 39 winners since the NBEC launch in 2017. Many of them are already in the market with globally acclaimed and investor-backed healthcare, agriculture, or environmental technologies.

Minister for Higher Education, IT & BT, Sci & Tech, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood, Govt. of Karnataka, Dr. C.N. Ashwathnarayan, in his Keynote address, said "It is heartening and encouraging to see that such a good amount of investment has been made in innovative ideas at NBEC. I convey my best wishes to the winners and going ahead, we will together build more innovations along with C-CAMP.”

Dr. Taslimarif Saiyed, CEO & Director, C-CAMP, Dr Manish Diwan, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Entrepreneurship Development, BIRAC, and Mrs. G.K. Krupalini, General Manager – Biotech Karnataka Innovation & Technology Society, Dept. of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka congratulated the winners and urged them to continue to innovate to reduce the burden of diseases, increase crop yield and contribute to bioeconomy. (India Science Wire)

ISW/SP/DBT/20/12/2021

Credits: India Science Wire

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New Age Solutions for Diabetic Care

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 10:47:37 +0000

Diabetes may not have a medically approved cure yet, but it sure can be turned a few knobs down with a well-balanced diet, regular exercise, and medication. Of course, one should follow a doctor’s advice for a lifestyle change. In the real world though, you look longingly at those French fries and convince yourself a few wouldn’t harm. Or you hit the snooze button and tell yourself, I will go for that long run tomorrow. And on and on you go, till your next visit to the Principal’s office, aka your doctor, where you hope miraculously for an improved report card. You are not alone my friend. Sticking to a regime requires discipline or an occasional reminder from your wellwishers (if you were me). A sight towards your goal and how far you have come in conquering it help matters further. Thankfully, plenty of new-age start-ups are here to make diabetes management and lifestyle changes easier.

Take for instance Life In Control and Wellthy Therapeutics. These digital platforms connect patients with doctors and coaches and provide personalized care in terms of diet and exercise plan. Users can create long-term health goals, follow-up daily tasks and keep tabs on their health profile including HbA1C and glucose levels, track medicines intake and understand how their daily routine affect these measures. These start-ups also give doctors the flexibility of reaching out to patients outside their clinical hours as well as to create and coach them on their personalized care plans. In the language of numbers, Life In Control has over 100 doctors on the platform and appears to have helped over a lakh patient with their app. Wellthy Therapeutics took the approach of a pilot program with diabetic patients and claims to have helped reduce both HbA1C levels by a little over 1% and an average weight reduction of 3.4 kgs over 16 weeks. It also got an endorsement by Asia’s largest diabetes association, Research Society for the Study of Diabetes in India. Both the apps are available for download on Android and iOS platforms.

Adding to the growing list of startups are those that detect blood glucose and connect directly to your smartphone. BioSense SYNC, for instance, is a compact Glucometer with Bluetooth connectivity to a user’s phone. It provides a detailed analysis of blood sugar data collected over a number of days. Similar to other diabetes management apps, a user can map their glucose data with their eating and exercising habits. Taking these interventions a step further, the start-up BeatO not only provides a smartphone Glucometer but also a range of diabetic friendly food products to munch upon. Patients can order medicines, sync their fitness devices and count calories on food items consumed. As of today, BeatO has served more than 25000 customers with a daily user add-on of 75-100. Most of these diabetes management apps can instantly connect a patient to a diabetic coach in case the sugar levels are off, and alert the patient’s family as well on concerning trends.

Complimenting these health management gurus, patients are also likely to benefit if there were devices providing at home diagnosis for diabetic complications, such as neuropathy, kidney malfunction or diabetic retinopathy. Scintiglo by Cutting Edge Medical Devices, Anupath by PathShodh and Sparsha by Yostra Labs have created Point of Care (PoC) tests to detect the first two complications. Scintiglo is a small handheld device that detects urinary proteins (should be trace levels in a healthy individual) at a low cost with remarkable accuracy and connects to a smartphone through a custom app. Anupath uses unique test strips for detection of specific biomarkers of diabetes, while also eliminating the need of usual sample preparation that one sees in clinics. Patients can get a comprehensive reading of their plasma and urine protein levels, HbA1c levels blood glucose and hemoglobin. While Sparsha, as the name suggests, focuses on touch-based tests that can diagnose diabetic peripheral neuropathy and send reports via users’ smartphone. Funded by the Department of Biotechnology grant (BIRAC), these start-ups focus on low-cost solutions, so an average user can save money on constant check-ups. Low costs also allow these start-ups to cater to rural segments of India, where a healthcare worker can refer patients to tertiary hospitals based on initial reports by these devices.

The complication of retinopathy, as mentioned above, relates to the slowly progressive disease of the eye and is one of the leading causes of blindness in diabetic patients. This segment is addressed by start-ups like ChironX and Artelus that use artificial intelligence to detect or monitor diabetic retinopathy risks from retinal image scans. Both the start-ups have achieved high accuracy of detection (over 95%) while the technology of AI confers an easy benefit of scanning retinas at a much faster speed to doctors and hospitals. Artelus also boasts to have saved over 3900 eyes so far from diabetic complications.

Given the burden of diabetes in every aspect of life (behavioral, physiological and financial), being handheld into recovery could be motivating for many patients. For maximum impact, we need to reach the furthest demographic corners of India, as diabetes has a growing prevalence in all sectors of the country. Infact, why wait for diabetes to knock at your door? One can also mitigate pre-diabetic conditions or reduce the chances of developing diabetes later in life. These start-ups aim to provide that ecosystem, where a patient can be led into an improved, healthy lifestyle at minimal costs. And just as it is heartening to see the growing awareness of Indians towards their health, it is equally imperative that these solutions are also as democratic as possible. Importantly in a booming start-up scenario, maintaining data integrity, complete transparency between doctors, patients and companies as well as strict adherence to ethical standards would go a long way in ensuring patient trust in this system.

About the author

Urvashi (Raheja) Bhattacharyya is a Biomedical Science graduate from Delhi University and a Ph.D. from National Centre for Biological Sciences. When not running behind her toddler, she spends time reading stuff about the brain, AI, ML, and latest innovations. Writing keeps her calm.

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InnoHEALTH Magazine | Volume 4 Issue 1 | Innovation in Diabetes – Unmet Needs
Highlights

Exclusive interview of H.E Klas Molin, Ambassador of Sweden to India on “Sweden-India collaboration in the health sector”
Digital healthcare
DISHA: Need of the hour. How crucial is DISHA (Act) for the healthcare industry?

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Skin Patch to Detect ‘Silent’ Heart Attacks

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Fri, 11 May 2018 07:24:37 +0000

The death of his grandfather due to heart attack led Manoj Akash, a class 10th student of Ashok Leyland School in Hosur, Karnataka, to invent skin patch which has to be attached to the wrist or the back of the ear and it will release a small ‘positive’ electrical impulse, which will attract the negatively charged protein released by the heart to signal a heart attack. If the quantity of this protein – FABP3 — is high, the person must seek immediate medical attention.

Since class eight he started visiting the library of the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru – an hour away from his hometown. He could not afford expensive books and journals. Only option left to visit library for this enterprising adolescent who had an extra knack to comprehend complexities of cardiology just because of his penchant for the heart diseases studies. He was chosen for the President’s Innovation Scholar’s In-Residence Programme at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The 16-year-old says that he investigated a novel concept that could potentially allow patients to detect silent heart attacks by non-invasively sensing the FABP3 biomarker in the bloodstream. ABP3 is a lightweight protein, releases quickly from heart muscle into the bloodstream during a heart attack, and therefore, it is an optimal cardiac diagnostic marker.

According to him, doctors may test a patient’s blood for FABP3. If he or she experiences characteristic symptoms like chest pain. However, not all heart attacks make themselves known through easily noticeable signs. Silent heart attacks, which are becoming increasingly common, are asymptomatic, making them more dangerous than conventional heart attacks.

Patients often “drop dead” while feeling completely normal. This collapse happened to my grandfather on July 3rd, 2015 which served as an impetus for me to find a solution to this problem. In these “silent” cases, doctors are unlikely to administer the crucial FABP3 blood test because there is no visible presentation of symptoms to warrant a diagnostic test. As a result, silent heart attacks go unnoticed.

“I realized that if at-risk patients could test themselves daily for the presence of FABP3 in their blood. They would have higher chances of detecting silent heart attacks as they occur. A method that allows daily self-testing would have to be non-invasive, safe, and easy to use. Ultimately, it would have to involve a transcutaneous blood analysis, which examines the contents of one’s blood without penetrating the skin.

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In searching for ways to tackle this challenging prospect. I examined the various distinguishing characteristics of blood proteins that would allow them to be identified transcutaneously. I found that proteins have distinctive masses and electric charges in blood.

So, I used a model to test whether different magnitudes of charged electricity. When applied to a thin area of skin, would isolate FABP3 from the other blood proteins and attract FABP3 to the capillary walls. My results showed that this is true.

This means that the technique that I investigated can potentially be coupled with transcutaneous UV-protein quantification to non-invasively measure the amount of FABP3 in a patient’s blood and alert him or her of a silent heart attack.”

Help Million Hearts Stay Healthy! Is his web page that narrates his vision.

He was frequenting scientific conventions to further his knowledge in the science field. Internet gave him a lot of insight, he admits Clinical trials for the medical device are on. And it could be approved for a human trial. The product would be fit to be launched in the market after two months of human trial, assuming nothing goes wrong.

“I have already filed for a patent and I would tie up with the department of biotechnology for the trial. I would want the Government of India to take the project instead of selling it to a private company because it is for the public good,” he says on his website.

To monitor, regular use small silicon patch stuck to your wrist or back of your ear. Whether there has been a heart attack instead of waiting for a doctor to prescribe a test.

The patch uses a positively charged electrical impulse to draw negatively charged —protein to the surface; If the amount of FABP3 is high, then the person would need immediate medical attention; Experts recommend to use the device twice a day. The product can soon be in the market. It would cost around R 900, cheaper than a glucometer symptoms at all.

Diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels all put you at risk of a silent heart attack, experts say. Having a silent heart attack puts people at a greater risk of having another heart attack, which could be fatal. Having another heart attack also increases the risk of complications, such as heart failure.

Chest pain, pain in the left arm or shortness is when of breath characterizes a silent heart attack. A silent heart attack may not show symptoms of chest pain and shortness of breath that doesn’t feel heart attack. Akash aims to study cardiology at the country’s premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi.

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A booster shot for innovations in India

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 06:49:39 +0000

InnoHEALTH in Bengaluru October 2017

Handholding Innovative companies from EU for Indian Market Access: A day well spent in Bengaluru. Sachin Gaur spells out the details of the magical meeting between the two sides opening doors for a brighter and fruitful future.

InnovatioCuris, IC in partnership with NovoJuris and with support of Honorary Consul of Estonia in Bengaluru, Karnataka Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers’ Association, (KDPMA) organized the Bengaluru leg of InnoHEALTH conference followed by B2B meetings.

When in the planning stages of the delegation visit we were strongly advised by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India to include Bengaluru in our itinerary. As you know Bengaluru is probably the center of all the action in the country when it comes to biotech industry.

So, we looked at a stakeholder approach considering that many of the companies/delegates were to visit India for the first time. We realized that the main stakeholders for such a visit would be experts on Indian health sector, distribution channel experts, investors and legal experts.

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Since, Estonia was our country partner we reached out to the Honorary Consul in Bengaluru who further connected us with KDPMA and other industry bodies. We, also, partnered with NovoJuris given their expertise in legal matters and strong interest in the health sector. The whole program was put together in partnership with a strong collaboration of the IC and the NovoJuris team.

The Bengaluru visit was planned for 21st of September 2017 with the first half of sessions with experts in the areas identified. The session about Indian health sector was delivered by Dr. V C Shanmugandan from Association of Private Hospitals of India and Ms. Swetha Suresh from Swissnex. The legal session was delivered by various experts of the NovoJuris team. The investor session saw experts from Accel Partners and PWC. The distribution session was run by officials of KDPMA, Mr. Sunil Attavar and Mr. Harish Jain.

Post lunch and evening sessions were reserved for the B2B meeting followed by cocktails, where various business leaders interested in partnering with the EU companies engaged the delegates. The EU delegation was very happy with the quality of the conference and the contacts made during the B2B sessions. It was a good learning experience for us as well to bring the stakeholders together and we gear up to do it again in 2018!

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“To share some positive facts about the Indian Pharma Industry: We are the most economical medicine manufacturer in the world; India is the third largest producer in volume and 10th largest in business globally; Thirty percent of US requirements are catered by Indian pharma manufacturers; We export to almost 200 countries in the world; One out of the three pills consumed in the world is from India. And all this has been achieved in the last 30 years when Indian government came out with Pharma policy in 1986.”

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“India has been on the forefront of providing some of the leading medical facilities that are uniquely innovative and ingenious. Indian pharma industry has gone beyond molecular contributions and is in fact manufacturing some ground breaking gadgets and machines that contribute to curing people from extreme ailments like the heart and lung diseases, transplants and coronary diseases. Of course pricing is an issue that is faced by the industry and the irony is that despite the price being much cheaper than the international market, it still remains out of the reach.”

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Want to write for InnoHEALTH? send us your article at magazine@innovatiocuris.com

Read all the issues of InnoHEALTH magazine:
InnoHEALTH Volume 1 Issue 1 (July to September 2016) – https://goo.gl/iWAwN2
InnoHEALTH Volume 1 Issue 2 (October to December 2016) – https://goo.gl/4GGMJz
InnoHEALTH Volume 2 Issue 1 (January to March 2017) – https://goo.gl/DEyKnw
InnoHEALTH Volume 2 Issue 2 (April to June 2017) – https://goo.gl/Nv3eev
InnoHEALTH Volume 2 Issue 3 (July to September 2017) – https://goo.gl/MCVjd6
InnoHEALTH Volume 2 Issue 4 (October to December 2017) – http://amzn.to/2B2UMLw
InnoHEALTH Volume 3 Issue 1 (January to March 2018) – https://goo.gl/fksdQx

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