The Medical Devices Conference will be hosted by DIA India on 21st and 22nd February in collaboration with Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI), AIC-AMTZ Medivalley Incubation Council and mDI Europa, is one of the largest gatherings of medical devices professionals in the region. The conference will be focusing on giving better insights into the challenges and opportunities in design and developments of medical devices plus the techniques to increase the rates for the successful launch of medical devices from its preclinical strategies to the successful marketing of products. The conference will also discuss the major influencing factors involved in a medical device industry including concept feasibility, design validation preclinical research, clinical development, market approval, and post-approval marketing. 

Shiwani: Your session at the DIA India Medical devices Conference 2020 is titled Clinical Development Challenges for Next-Generation Medical Devices Investigator's Perspective? Could you please briefly share your thoughts on how the device development landscape has changed over the past decade in India?

Dr. Kaul: Non-Communicable diseases are becoming a priority in the healthcare sector in our country because of changing disease patterns. Medical devices are assuming a key role in the management in this changed scenario. The framing of the Device Regulation rules in 2017 and separating it from the Drug and Cosmetics regulation is the right direction in this regard. Another act of Price Regulation has made the R&D of devices more challenging.

 During the last decade, two areas which are in development are Coronary stent and knee implant industry in the country. With the ease in "Make in India" rules international companies have started coming to manufacture in India and are keeping in mind the need for domestic innovation and customization of the products as per the local needs. Collaborations of Indian and International companies are being encouraged. The comparative studies in this regard lead to healthy competition and a good platform for new developments. The ultimate beneficiary of these efforts should be the patient who gets better quality products at competitive costs

Shiwani: Can you please explain the primary focus and advancements in Medical Device Industry? What is your expectation from this conference (DIA Medical Device conference 2020)?

Dr. Kaul: The area of equipment and instruments like MRI, CT Scanners, ultrasound machines, and high-end dental surgery equipment has largely been dependent on imports. With the ease in Make in India rules, international companies have started coming to manufacture in India and are keeping in mind the need for domestic innovation and customization of the products as per the local needs. Collaborations of Indian and International companies are being encouraged. The comparative studies in this regard lead to healthy competition and good for new developments.

The DIA India Medical Devices Conference 2020, is going to deal with different aspects of medical Devices from all perspectives like new Regulations, the emerging markets, demand, manufacture and distribution challenges as seen in our milieu.

Shiwani: Can you please share your thoughts on how the DIA India Medical devices Conference 2020 will prove beneficial to the medical device fraternity?

Dr. Desai: Medical devices are an evolving area with new techniques & technologies, including regulatory pathways, the medical devices regulations which came into existence in 2005 and MDR which came in 2017 and is being implemented from Jan 2018.

This further helps us in understanding the scenario in terms of regulatory development, the requirement of evidences regarding clinical, medical or economic evidences, developmental needs of the products, an entire bunch of activities from the regulatory point of view. Additionally, a lot of Indian companies have also initiated their facilities in India. So, basically it needs to be understood that what exactly are the requirement and needs in the medical device industry, and in terms of how devices industry evolved in the last few years. Now Indian companies are not looking from an Indian perspective as a market but also focusing on the international markets like the US, EU, and other countries.

Shiwani: Additionally, any highlights from the program and the preparation process over the last few months?  

Dr. Desai: We started three-four months ago for the program, as we were supposed to have a meeting in Dec 2019, however, due to some conflicts of dates it was postponed to Feb 2020.

Initially, the DIA group formed a core committee or program committee from different areas of clinical, regulatory, medical, and quality. Then we debated and deliberated on kind of interest from all committees, the need for the medical device industry and the topics which would be interesting for the audience. Further, we switched looking to the agenda, volunteers interested in presenting the sessions, and representatives of the regulatory authorities willing to be speakers or analysts in specific areas for the conference. Plenty of hard work was needed, however, the DIA Group has excelled in the situation and played a great role to put it together for this first forum for the medical devices. Additionally, a lot of efforts were involved in collaborating with different associations and convert it into partnerships for maximum coverage of the event.

We then looked at it from the entire perspective of young professionals in the medical device industry. We found that this is a very young specialty and we thought of having a poster session where young guys can present their work which can further be recognized.

Additionally, we are running weekly meetings, where we will be deliberately working over several things. Also, it’s not easy to organize a conference of this scale or magnitude, so overall it involved a lot of hard work to prepare for the program.

Dr. Upendra Kaul

Dr. Upendra Kaul is Chairman of Batra Heart Centre and Dean Academics and Research of BHMRC, New Delhi. He is a highly recognized globally for his work in cardiovascular sciences. He is known as a passionate teacher and an astute clinician who is credited with starting the coronary angioplasty program in India and continues to bring innovative techniques in interventional cardiology to the country. He was also on the faculty of G B Pant Hospital, PGIMER Chandigarh and AIIMS where he was a Professor of cardiology. He has been involved in several public education programs all over the country including in his place of birth in Kashmir.

Dr. Anish Desai  

Dr. Anish Desai is a trained Clinical Pharmacologist and Pharmaceutical Physician with 3 decades of experience in Academia, Research, and Healthcare industry with proven leadership skills, strong business acumen, and a deep understanding of the Healthcare System, including Pharmaceutical, Nutraceutical & Medical device industry. He has been recognized for driving positive change, delivering solutions, developing talent and nurturing strong relationships with external stakeholders. Holding Senior Management Position for last 20 years and involved in strategic decision making. 'IntelliMed Healthcare Solutions' is a Healthcare startup launched by him with an intent to focus on strategic medical affairs for business growth, thereby infusing science into business. IntelliMed specializes in scientific, Clinical & medical support from conceptualization/Ideation to launch.