INDIA – Pfizer has announced the launch of the Pfizer INDovation Program, which will support healthcare innovation start-ups in India focused on oncology and digital health.
Pfizer will provide grants of up to Rs 65 lakh (US$56,423) and two years of incubation support to six startups, beginning with three in the first year, through the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and other top academic institutions.
The grants are designed to help startups accelerate their innovation from the lab to the market.
A nationwide call for applications in the form of a grand challenge will be issued to invite digital health and oncology start-ups working on the prioritized problem.
Pfizer has teamed up with 15 partners to help startups with all of their needs. Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, Social Alpha, Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) – IIT-Delhi, and AGNIi are among them, with UNHIEX serving as a knowledge partner.
Social Alpha and IIT Delhi together will provide support and guidance for 24 months to facilitate the journey of the startups to market launch, help refine the business model, navigate the regulatory landscape, and provide an understanding of national and global market dynamics.
“This is the second version of the Pfizer IT-Delhi Innovation and IP Program, and is one of Pfizer’s flagship CSR initiatives,” said S. Sridhar, Pfizer’s managing director in India.
“With this program, we are looking to address the challenges start-ups face after crossing the early-stage product development so that many of these unique ideas and solutions can become commercially successful products,” Sridhar added.
He further noted that in the first version, Pfizer successfully incubated nine healthcare innovators and supported 19 IP filings.
Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog on his part said, “We expect this program to help start-ups and young innovators to bring healthcare solutions that will address the unmet needs in the priority areas of Oncology and Digital Health for not just India, but the world.”
India’s health-tech sector
According to a report by consulting firm Redseer, India’s health-tech sector is poised to reach US$9-12 billion Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) by 2025 and US$40 billion GMV by 2040.
The Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) refers to the total volume pf goods sold through online mediums.
Furthermore, the report claimed that the India’s digital health space grew by 51% on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in 2021 driven by reduced customer acquisition, same day delivery, and cross-selling.
Furthermore, a 47% increase in Net Promoter Score (NPS) in 2021 indicated that customers are now more likely to recommend digital health platforms to their friends or relatives.
NPS is a method of measuring customer loyalty and satisfaction in which businesses ask customers to rate their services on a scale of 1 to 10.
At the moment, the most prominent players in the health-tech sector are Pharmeasy, Netmeds (Reliance Group), Tata Group-backed 1mg, Medlife, mfine, and MeddiBuddy.
According to a report released last year by The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and management consulting firm Praxis, the Indian health-tech sector will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39%.
Customers readily adopting health-tech, healthcare workers using more technology, and the government promoting telemedicine and creating a digital health care backbone through the National Digital Health Mission were some of the growth drivers cited in the same report.
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