The Union Health Ministry on Monday launched MedTech Mitra, a platform to accelerate the development of innovative products and aid their commercialisation. Inagurating the platform virtually on Monday, union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that “the medical devices industry in India had the potential to grow and become a $50 billion industry by 2030”.
MedTech Mitra will hand-hold innovators and help them in getting regulatory approval, Mandaviya said. The platform has been created by Niti Aayog, Indian Council of Medical Research and Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation.
The MedTech Mitra platform, along with the recent medical devices policy and the production-linked incentive scheme, will together provide a boost to the medical devices sector and encourage domestic manufacturing of these devices, the minister said.
“Medical devices are an essential and integral constituent of India’s healthcare sector, but are highly import-dependent. Around 80% of the medical devices are being imported and this had to change. The new initiatives would facilitate indigenous development of affordable, quality MedTech devices and diagnostics, leading to a considerable reduction in the import dependence of this sector,” Mandaviya said.
“MedTech Mitra will ensure ease of innovation and doing R&D for emerging start-ups,” VK Paul, member, health, Niti Aayog said.
“The medical devices sector is changing rapidly on the back of robotics, artificial intelligence, big data, virtual reality and nanotechnology. MedTech Mitra will handhold innovators for clinical evaluations and regulatory compliance through collaboration amongst all stakeholders, which would break silos and catalyze growth in this sector,” Paul said.
MedTech Mitra would provide end-to-end guidance to startups, making their journey from idea to product smooth. The platform will also help them bridge gaps and help in animal as well as clinical trials.
Around 100-plus institutions were expected to work in coordination and collaboration on the platform. It would also foster partnerships between engineers, scientists and clinicians, which was lacking in the sector.
