New Program Connects Brazil and India to Support Health Technology Startups

In short: A new international program links Brazil and India to help young entrepreneurs develop health technologies and move them to the market. Participants spend six months working in innovation ecosystems in each country.

Turning a clever scientific idea into a real medical product is a huge challenge, but a new international partnership aims to make that journey much smoother for young creators.

What happened, in plain words

Announced in New Delhi in September, a program named BRICS+ Biodesign aims to support young entrepreneurs in building health technologies through shared activities between Brazil and India. Antonio Adilton Oliveira Carneiro, a professor at the University of São Paulo (USP) and vice-president of the Brazilian Society of Biomedical Engineering (SBEB), shared details about the initiative. Carneiro signed a memorandum of understanding for the SBEB and is working to include USP structures like Inova USP and the Supera Parque. The plan involves a one-year process where participants spend six months in Brazil identifying a need and starting a project, and six months in India using local facilities for prototyping, testing, and regulatory procedures. Potential projects include a technology that uses ultrasound and magnetic techniques to track feeding tubes, and a breast CT scanner. The Indian phase is planned to take place at the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone, which features numerous industries and research centers. A committee with representatives from Brazil, South Africa, Russia, and India will select participants, with an initial plan for about 30 spots.

Key points

Shared International Structure The BRICS+ Biodesign program divides its one-year timeline equally between Brazil and India, giving participants access to innovation ecosystems in both nations.
Focus on Real Health Needs Participants will create technologies driven by concrete healthcare demands, such as devices to track medical probes or breast CT scanners.
Reducing Import Reliance A primary goal of the initiative is to help make countries less dependent on imported health technology equipment.
Testing and Prototyping in India The Indian portion of the program takes place at the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone, providing access to advanced testing facilities, animal models, and hardware and firmware development.

Terms explained

Prototyping — Building an early working model of a product to test how well an idea functions in the real world. Example: Creating a rough, working plastic model of a new medical tool before manufacturing it on a large scale.
Hardware and Firmware — Hardware refers to the physical parts of a machine, while firmware is the basic software programmed directly into that physical equipment to make it run. Example: The electronic circuit board inside a digital thermometer is hardware, and the internal code that tells the screen what numbers to display is firmware.
Regulatory Procedures — The official rules, reviews, and legal steps required to prove a product is safe and approved for public use. Example: Submitting safety test results to a government health agency to get official permission to sell a new medical device.

Why it matters

This program could help bring local health inventions to everyday hospitals and clinics faster. By teaching young creators how to navigate everything from basic research to market regulations, it may boost local manufacturing of medical equipment.

What we still don't know

The selection model and official call for participants had not yet been published at the time of the interviews, and final agreements with USP are still being discussed.

Based on reporting from Jornal da USP. This is an independent explainer, written in our own words with AI assistance; Jornal da USP has not reviewed or endorsed it. Read the original for the full details.