Question : Which Kerala based start-up recently(November 2021) won Startup India Grand Challenge 2021 in the medical device category of the Government of India ?
a. Sascan Meditech
b. Medtronic PLC
c. Medprime Technologies
d. Aurolab
Ans. a.
Related facts —
- Sascan Meditech, the start-up incubated at the SCTIMST-TIMed the Technology Business Incubator of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), recently(November 2021) received a Cash grant of INR 15,00,000 at the Grand Challenge organized by Department of Pharmaceuticals, Govt of India along with Startup India and Investindia.org.
- The award was announced by NITI Ayog, after a rigorous evaluation process, and “Sascan” was selected from among 310 start-ups which took part in the grand challenge.
- Developments of Sascan Meditech —
- It has developed OralScan, a handheld device for early, accurate, and cost-effective detection of pre-cancerous lesions in the mouth.
- OralScan is a biophotonics technology-based device, and the results of clinical trials have been published in a scientific journal.
- It was launched in October 2020 and has reached eight states in India.
- Sascan’s second product CerviScan, a hand-held non-invasive device for cervical cancer screening and early detection of cervical cancer, will be launched soon.
- It is notable that Sascan was also recently selected as the winner of “AnjaniMashelkar Inclusive Innovation Award 2021” from Anjani Mashelkar Foundation.
- Founder —
- It is founded by Dr. Subhash Narayanan, a scientist turned biomedical entrepreneur, focuses on developing affordable healthcare products and solutions for cancer care and screening based on biophotonics and allied technologies.