Pfizer Limited, in collaboration with National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER)-Ahmedabad, the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), NITI Aayog and Social Alpha, have announced six winners of the NIPER-A edition of Pfizer’s flagship INDovation programme for healthcare startups.

The winning startups have received a grant of Rs 25 lakh each from Pfizer, while NIPER-Ahmedabad will provide comprehensive incubation support that will help accelerate their lab-to-market journey. The winners include Aarca Research (diagnosing Peripheral Artery Disease), Babycue (POC device for childhood diarrhoea), Biolockey Healthworks (at-home test for cervical cancer), Brela Innovations (breast pads for women for early detection of breast cancer), RNT Health Insights (AI-assisted early gastric cancer detection software) and Utopic Tech (POC test for kidney health).

In addition, Dr Arunish Chawla, Secretary, the Department of Pharmaceuticals announced that the government will provide regulatory support to these startups. "The government has approved these winners for startup assistance under the research linked incentive scheme, and also approved these products for support for pre-clinical and clinical studies. We hope to see these innovations entering the market in the next 2-3 years", he said.

This support announced by the Secretary falls under the recently launched Scheme for Strengthening the Medical Device Industry.