‘The Pfizer IIT-Delhi Innovation and IP Program’ announces first round of grant awardees

The innovators/ start-ups will develop prototypes, which when scaled up, aims to improve the quality of lives of millions of people across the country

‘The Pfizer IIT-Delhi Innovation and IP Program’, an incubation accelerator initiative co-created by Pfizer and the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-Delhi), has announced the first round of grant awardees. The projects selected under this platform aim to address India’s enormous need for healthcare innovations that are not only unique in tackling the current healthcare challenges but also cost effective, scalable and easy to deploy. The innovators/ start-ups will develop prototypes, which when scaled up, aims to improve the quality of lives of millions of people across the country.

Through these innovations, the start-ups will focus on providing solutions to air pollution, stroke-led disability and infectious diseases. The innovations are:

I. Healthcare innovation from Idea to IP (Resident Incubation Program)

a) Early stage diagnosis and antibiotic susceptibility test of typhoid in seven hours by Saurabh Singh
b) Wearable nasal air purification device with minimal air flow resistance by Debayan Saha

II. Healthcare innovation only at IP stage

c) Bioactive nanofibre for bone regeneration by Dr Shilpa Dev, Virtisbiolabs
d) Multiboard-an upper extremity workstation for rural India by Dr Harpreet Sachdeva, AIIMS
e) Green manufacturing of pharmaceutical intermediates using novel enzyme by Dr Raj Kumar, Cellzyme Biotech

During the programme, the two shortlisted innovators seeking comprehensive support to translate their healthcare ideas into patents, will be provided two years of residential incubation at IIT Delhi, capital boost of up to Rs 50 lakh for each innovator, high – profile mentoring support from IIT Delhi’s faculty, access to infrastructure and prototyping laboratories, IP search and filing services, guidance from Pfizer’s global experts, and access to venture capitalists and other industry linkages. The three selected innovators under the IP filing support who already have a ready proof of concept and are seeking to obtain a patent, will be provided with access to IP attorneys and services and cover the patent fee under the Program, upto Rs 3 lakh each.

EP News Bureau