Discovery Award. Out
of total 240 teams
registered across
world, 50 belong to
India and that is quite
substantial. In terms
of research, some
of them are sitting
in the Institutions,
few are companies,
some are individuals.
Team could be led by
the engineers or the
microbiologists or any
other expert with clear
idea of developing
product. It is good
to see that India is
well represented and
the reason for that is
our close partnership
with BIRAC which
is using its network
with incubators
and accelerators to
identify the teams
that can compete
and make these rapid
diagnostics.
How many of these
applicants are
inching closer to
realizing the goals?
So far we have got 240
There is a
risk that we
are going to the
pre-antibiotic
era. There
would be crisis
in the longer
run where
surgeries such
as Cesarean
operations
would become
difficult
because of
not enough
antibiotics
to prevent
infection
applications. Some
have got rejected
and some have been
given specific inputs
on improving their
path to technology
development. The
final deadline is
September, 2019.
So there are close to
two years still left for
the teams to work on
their products. As I
mentioned, to win or
apply, you need three
prototypes, business
plan and 30 minute
criteria.
Have the members
of industry and
academia joined
hands in few cases
to jointly pitch their
idea as a team?
It is a good point. In
order to develop a
viable solution, the
team has to have a
strong medical advise.
It is a real risk and
drawback for few
teams which develop
a product prototype
without medical
inputs. There are many
examples where we see
industry and academia
together. There is a
Delhi University team
that has joined hands
with a private hospital.
In terms of challenges,
the point of care is
an issue. Today when
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