Affordable Cervical Cancer Detection

Ahmedabad University’s VentureStudio startup Pragmatech Healthcare Solutions Private Limited has received a funding of Rs 50 lakhs under the Biotechnology Ignition Grant (BIG) scheme by the Biotechnology Industrial Research Assistance Council (BIRAC). The healthtech startup has had a year-long association with VentureStudio.

BIG, the largest early stage biotech funding programme in India, is the flagship programme of BIRAC, a not-for-profit social enterprise set up and supported by the Government of India which provides fuel and support to young startups and entrepreneurial individuals innovating affordable products. Pragmatech Healthcare bagged the funding for its product CERVICHECK, a standalone, cost-efficient immunoassay kit that women can use to detect cervical cancer right from the privacy of their home with minimal technical expertise. The Point of Care Test (POCT) screens cervical cells and provides clinically-relevant results. Timely detection of cervical cancer can help patients as this is a preventable and curable condition.

Pragmatech’s success furthers VentureStudio’s reputation as a grooming ground for startups. In the biotechnology space, the startup-centric culture of VentureStudio provides support through a dedicated facility, funds, business guidance and a collaborative network. Right from the project’s incipient stages helping set up the initial venture structure upto taking the product to its lead customers and scaling it up, the team at VentureStudio goes to great lengths to ensure its startups get the desired help.

Co-founded by Anirban Palit and Palna Patel, Pragmatech Healthcare focuses on developing elementary products for increasing access to and adoption of the latest healthcare technologies. It was started with the goal of innovating pragmatic, ergonomic and cost-effective solutions to help address difficult healthcare challenges that are primarily affecting India, and low- or middle-income countries.