Government to set up Medical Devices Park in Kerala

Kerala will soon house one of the first medical device parks in the country, focusing on the high-risk medical device sector to provide full range of services for the medical devices industry like R&D support, testing, and evaluation.

MedSpark, the medical devices park envisaged as a joint initiative of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology (SCTIMST), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India, and the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (KSIDC), the industrial and investment promotion agency of the Government of Kerala is going to be established in the Life Science Park, Thonnakkal, Thiruvananthapuram.

This medical device park will stand out with its emphasis on the high-risk medical device sector involving medical implants and extracorporeal devices, in which SCTIMST scores with its knowledge.

The Medical Devices Park will create an enabling support system for R&D, testing and evaluation of medical devices, manufacturing support, technology innovation, and knowledge dissemination, all of which are the full range of services that the medical devices industry seeks. These services can be utilized by the medical device industries located within the MedSpark as well from other parts of India. This will benefit small and medium-sized medical devices industries, which dominate the medical devices sector.

Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister, Government of Kerala, will lay the foundation stone for Medical Devices Park on Thursday, 24^th September 2020.

“Sree Chitra has made substantial contributions to the biomedical devices sector over the last 30 or more years and has established itself as a pioneer in this field. This is a milestone for biomedical devices industry in the country and is fully aligned with the Honorable Prime Minister’s Vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat”, said Dr. VK Saraswat, NITI Aayog Member and the President of SCTIMST.

“The aspect that will distinguish this Medical Device Park from the few other similar projects proposed in the country is that it will focus on the high-risk medical device sector involving medical implants and extracorporeal devices, the domain in which SCTIMST has considerable expertise and experience,” Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary DST commented.

“The park is being established under the Technical Research Centre for Biomedical devices program of the DST, through a knowledge partnership with KSIDC, Government of Kerala, tapping the ecosystem that exists in the city with several research and academic institutions and health care centers. It was possible with the support of various departments of the Central Government and Niti Aayog,” said Dr. Asha Kishore, Director, SCTIMST.

MedSpark can leverage the existing advantage of the Kerala State in the high-risk medical device manufacture and develop it into the most sought after destination for setting up medical device industry in India.

Currently, Kerala has a number of medical device companies with an annual turnover in excess of Rs. 750 crores, most of them operating with technologies transferred from SCTIMST.

When completed, the MedSpark will have:

• A Medical Device Testing & Evaluation Centre accredited to international agencies
• An R&D Resource Centre for facilitating R&D in medical device domain, the services of which would be shared by the entities within the Park
• A centralised Knowledge Centre for skill up-gradation with facilities for conducting training and providing support on regulatory issues, clinical trials, etc.
• A Technology Business Incubation Centre for promoting start-ups and early-stage companies
• A set of Modular Manufacturing Units for lease by the industries coming to the park or land modules for setting up manufacturing units
• The business model for the MedSpark is self-sustaining in which its operational expenses will be generated from its revenue streams. Funding from the state and central governments (both Kerala State and Central) through various schemes will meet the capital expenditure and deficit in income against expenses during the initial stages
• It is expected that the project would provide direct employment to 1200 people. Besides, employment generation up to 4000 – 5000 jobs through the supporting industries like OEM suppliers, service providers, and marketing/post marketing support activities