The Pragmatech Solution for Preventive and At Home Cervical Cancer Screening
If you are a woman or own a cervix, do you get a PAP test done yearly?
Pragmatech Healthcare Solutions, based in Vadodara, India was incorporated in mid 2020 with a mission to bridge the gaps in the healthcare sector by making healthcare more affordable and accessible. The founders bring a wealth of expertise - Anirban Palit, Sayantani offers valuable experience in medtech, while Pramanik Palit, Ph.D., brings extensive and relevant experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Palna Patel, an experienced advocate, contributes her legal expertise, and Dr. Bhagirath Modi, a veteran ob-gyn, adds his extensive clinical knowledge to the team. The co-founder, Sayantani Pramanik Palit, Ph.D. shared their story, the challenges they aim to address, and the innovative solutions they are bringing to the market.
The inception of Pragmatech Healthcare Solutions was driven by the realization that while India possesses advanced healthcare technologies, accessibility and awareness remain significant barriers. "We wanted to work on bridging the gaps that exist currently in the healthcare sector. Making healthcare more affordable and easier is our primary goal," explains the co-founder.
Cervical cancer emerged as the initial focus for Pragmatech Healthcare Solutions. The statistics are alarming: cervical cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer mortality among women worldwide, and in India, it ranks second after breast cancer. Despite India accounting for more than 25% of global cervical cancer mortalities, awareness and regular screening are shockingly low. "India's awareness for cervical cancer is really low. Even if women are aware, they avoid tests due to privacy concerns and the invasive nature of pelvic examinations," the co-founder elaborates.
This low awareness and reluctance, lead to late-stage diagnosis where symptoms become aggressive, and the cancer is already at an advanced stage.
"By the time a woman reaches the doctor, she's often at a fully aggressive state because cervical cancer in its initial stages presents very mild symptoms that often go unnoticed."
To tackle this issue, Pragmatech Healthcare Solutions developed an at-home self-sampling kit, empowering women to collect samples in the privacy and convenience of their homes or other private spaces. "We thought of designing and developing a self-sampling kit using which a woman even without any prior experience of PAP can collect her samples from the privacy and convenience of her home or office bathroom," says the co-founder.
The CERVICHECKTM self-sampling kit has undergone rigorous testing and clinical evaluation, receiving approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) as a Class B medical device.
"Our device has an innovation. It is precisely directed to collect samples from the right location. We substantiated our claim by comparing the samples collected by clinicians with self-sampled ones and found our kit to be at par with the clinician collection method."
This innovation would not only increase footfalls at ob-gyn clinics but would also help path labs to increase their testing. “We bring in an innovation that incentivizes the entire value chain whilst disrupting the initial screening barrier” states the cofounder.
Despite the innovation, entering the market posed its own set of challenges. Initially bootstrapped, the company received its first support from BIRAC seed fund scheme in 2020, followed by various government and CSR sponsored grants. Pragmatech has also been recently featured on SHARK TANK India S3 which not only provided an excellent platform to raise awareness but also receive investment interests. They have now completed raising their seed round at a pre-money valuation of 20 Cr (~$3 million).
"Raising investments was challenging, especially because of the lengthy regulatory pipeline in India. However, by mid-2023, a lot of attention started coming to the subject of HPV and cervical cancer.”
The awareness around HPV and cervical cancer has surged, partly due to the introduction of the first indigenous HPV vaccine. This increased focus has also brought attention to the innovative screening solutions offered by Pragmatech Healthcare Solutions.
With the recent acquisition of the manufacturing license, Pragmatech Healthcare Solutions is poised to enter the commercial market. "Our first goal is to establish our business model - market fit and expand our reach" states the co-founder. Looking ahead, the company aims to develop a screening kit for detecting cervical cancer at a precancerous stage, which is currently in the R&D stage.
Pragmatech Healthcare Solutions has ambitious plans to expand beyond India. The initial focus will be on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Africa, ASEAN, Central Asian countries "HPV testing is a huge market. In India alone, there are 207 million healthy women who fall in the age bracket supposed to take a periodic HPV test. Globally, the number is even larger." On a side note, while the HPV vaccine is a useful preventative measure, it does not protect against all subtypes of HPV virus. The innovation in their device, particularly its ability to collect cervical cells precisely, sets it apart from existing solutions in developed countries.
"Our device is designed to collect relevant cells without medical supervision accurately, safely and comfortably, unlike other self-sampling kits that collect only vaginal samples. This precision, combined with our upcoming screening kit, will be a game-changer, especially because screening through our innovation will not just be limited to clinical establishments, but will be able to reach homes of every woman."
Pragmatech Healthcare Solutions is not just addressing a critical healthcare gap but also empowering women to own their journey towards better health. With their innovative self-sampling kit and ambitious expansion plans, they are set to make a significant impact on the global healthcare landscape. As the co-founder aptly sums up, "We are riding the wave of increased awareness and making strides towards a future where cervical cancer can be detected and treated early, saving countless lives."
Moreover, the company’s goal of making their solution accessible in the Indian market is a testament to the stellar talent and scope within the Indian life science ecosystem. Pragmatech Healthcare Solutions exemplifies how innovative thinking and dedicated effort within India can lead to groundbreaking advancements in healthcare, offering accessible and improved outcomes for millions of women both domestically and globally.
If you are interested in the Indian Life Science ecosystem or looking for introductions or building in India or even tangential to it - connect with me here and I am happy to chat!
References:
HPV Centre. (n.d.). Human papillomavirus and related cancers, fact sheet 2023: India. Retrieved from https://hpvcentre.net/statistics/reports/IND_FS.pdf
World Health Organization (WHO). (2023, July 27). Cervical cancer. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cervical-cancer
Sung, H., Ferlay, J., Siegel, R. L., Laversanne, M., Soerjomataram, I., Jemal, A., & Bray, F. (2021). Global cancer statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 71(3), 209-249. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21660
The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia. (2023). Article Title. The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia, 10, Article 00156. Retrieved from https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lansea/article/PIIS2772-3682(23)00156-7/fulltext