The world’s first unique e-Auction tech transfer portal exclusively dedicated for medical technologies was successfully launched on the occasion of India Medical Device 2018 organized by Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) in partnership with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in Bengaluru.

Conceptualized and developed by Kalam Institute of Health Technology (KIHT), the e-Auction portal shall pool in medical technologies developed in research labs funded by the government of India and auction them to the industry thereby bridging the gap between industry and academia. The auction shall make prototypes and technologies commercialized so that additional funding reach out to academic and research institutions.

The expo also witnessed launch of world’s first med tech Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software for medical device manufacturers which is free and developed on open source.

The ERP which has been launched free-of-cost for medical device manufacturers has been jointly developed by India’s first medical device park, Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) and Lotus Wireless using open source and shall help medical device manufacturers reduce internal overhead costs by over 30%.

The inaugural session was attended by Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar, Mansukh L Mandaviya, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Dr. Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative to India and other dignitaries from the government, industry and trade associations.

The swift work and progress done at AMTZ and KIHT was applauded by the Union Minister and everybody present at the event. With initiatives such as the e-Auction Portal and ERP being launched and applauded at a platform like the India Medical Device 2018 and India Pharma 2018, showcase to the world that the ‘Make in India’ dream is coming true to reduce the cost of healthcare in the country and world over.

The government of Andhra Pradesh has also recently entered into a MoU with Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) to set up the Directorate of Radiation Safety (DRS) at AMTZ.

Under this agreement, the directorate staff shall be supported and trained by AERB to undertake regulatory inspections and verify compliance of the various x-ray installations in the state. With the setting up of DRS at AMTZ, the manufacturers of radiological equipment shall be immensely benefited towards certifications for their products. The safety in hospitals is set to get a boost with this initiative.

AERB has a mandate to ensure that the use of ionizing radiation and nuclear energy in India does not cause undue risk to health and the environment. With this, Andhra Pradesh joins the elite group for hosting the directorate of radiation safety for AERB.

An MoU was also recently signed between Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC) and AMTZ to drive ‘Made in India’ exports of medical technology products.

This is envisaged to provide much-needed support for Indian medical device manufacturers to increase export of ‘Made in India’ products to cater to global medical device demand of approximately Rs.30 lakh crore.

The partnership will enable manufacturers at AMTZ with access to global exhibitions, export promotion events where Indian medical technology products can be showcased, with support from EEPC.