Mobile vaccination labs to facilitate concurrent clinical trials, vaccine upgrades, vaccination, pre and post vaccination feedback
Our Bureau
New Delhi
IIT Alumni Council has decided to help re-invent the clinical trial and vaccination process. This will help reduce timelines inherent in the sequential process of virus characterization, vaccine development, clinical trials, mass vaccination and post vaccination feedback. Digital wearables and a secure community portal will create instantaneous feedback and facilitate real time research. The vaccine will be first made available to IIT Alumni and their families. Once process is perfected, it will be made available globally, said Ravi Sharma, President of the IIT Alumni Council.
On 1st May, 2020 the Maharashtra Chief Minister had flagged off India’s first covid-19 testing bus. This IIT Alumni Council initiative was powered by Krsnaa Diagnostics, a diagnostics company which was the market leader in tele-radiology. Krsnaa used remote doctors and AI to facilitate speed diagnosis and patient isolation in high-risk clusters of Mumbai and Pune. The volunteering work done by their Managing Director at the NSCI Dome and the covid test bus laid the foundation for Krsnaa to enter and lead the Covid testing business. The IIT Alumnus managed Indus Somerset Fund, a MegaFund affiliate provided venture capital funding. The company recently filed for an IPO and could be on track to becoming the first listed unicorn in the covid space.
In April 2020, I was one of the first volunteers to reach the Poddar Hospital facility. The vision outlined by the Council was compelling enough for me stay back for weeks in what was meant to be a day trip. I got full support from our investors. All I had was my entrepreneurial zeal, leadership qualities and quick decision making alongside by background in home science. I saw first-hand how the IIT Alumni Council team members worked 24/7 to turn every single healthcare paradigm on its head in internet time to visible and tangible results. Based on my own experience, I can now understand why IITians can create unicorns like no one else in the world can, adds Ms Pallavi Jain Managing Director and founding shareholder of Krsnaa Diagnostics, a MegaLab partner organization funded by a MegaFund partner Fund.
All the four MegaLab partner organizations are expected to trace a similar path as Krsnaa for creation of listed unicorns in keeping with the vision MoU signed between BSE and the IIT Alumni Council.
At almost warp speed the IIT Alumni Council has assembled a formidable force across the continents and disciplines for Covid 19 prevention. Their Covid initiative has won both my admiration and allegiance. One that particularly appeals to me is their take on developing an entire prophylactic stack that is upgradeable and not just a single onetime remedy. Prophylactics, therapeutics and tonics are all essential to prevent, heal and regenerate from this affliction. Here is a remarkable convergence of neoteric technologies and data science complementing modern and traditional systems of health and medicine! I have always believed that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, added Ms Christina Watson, Founder of Wellness Lifestyle and Board Member of Digital India, a MegaFund partner fund.
Clearly the MegaLab format has huge potential at a global level for multiple diseases. As a born digital initiative led by the fabled IIT alumni community, the 360-degree approach taken by the IIT Alumni Council from prevention to wellness is unprecedented. Converting social ventures with zero revenue to serve as the foundation to create listed unicorns within months is disruptive. This approach can radically transform the start-up ecosystem in India, added Ms Mrinalini Gupta, Executive Director of the Ashmolean Fund, a MegaFund partner. Mrinalini is one of India’s best known branding experts and was among the first set of volunteers to join the C19 Task Force. She led the branding team that created the brand.
IIT Alumni Council is the largest global body of alumni across all the twenty-three IITs and partnering Institutes of the India Innovation Network (I2Net).
The C19 Task Force was set up by the Global Board of the IIT Alumni Council in March 2020 to supplement and complement the efforts of the central and state governments in the fight against C19. Its term ended on August 15th, 2020. Initiatives catalyzed by the Task Force successfully include the NSCI Dome, Covid Test Bus, MegaLab, MegaTx and MegaIncubator. The India Vaccine Stack initiative is being launched on June 1, 2021.
