Hyderabad, Dec 13 (FN Agency) S3V Vascular Technologies, a company incubated at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, will set up new facility for manufacturing of India’s first new-age Neuro Medical devices, useful in reversing paralysis, at Mysore in Karnataka , with an investment of Rs 200 crore. The Karnataka government had already allotted 8.81 acres of land for the new plant which will be designed and built as per USFDA norms, Mr. N.G. Badari Narayan founder and Head of Medical Devices at S3V, said in a press conference here on Tuesday. The new facility will house cutting-edge technologies for integrated manufacturing and also R & D facility, he said the devices include Neuro clot retriever, Neuro Aspiration Catheter and Neuro Mocrocatheter. The company has received test licenses and will commence commercial production upon receiving the nod for manufacturing also, he informed. Our endeavor is not only to introduce these products but also to make them affordable, he said these devices will be formally launched by Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, at a function in the city on Thursday.
Prof Balram Bhargava, Chief of Cardiothoracic Sciences, AIIMS, New Delhi & former Director General of ICMR and Dr Mathew Cherian, Past president of the Indian society of vascular and interventional radiology will also participate and grace the function, he informed. About 20 lakh brain strokes take place in India each year but only 1500 patients undergo procedures, Mr Badari said with the launch of these futuristic products, we hope that the number of procedures may go up to at least 2.5 lakh per annum in the next decade. With these devices, if the procedures are done in time within the golden hour, there is a high chance for blood flow to be restored and paralysis reversed, he said.
The gold standard of treatment of ischemic brain stroke (stroke due to a blockage of brain vessels due to clot) is Mechanical Thrombectomy which involves an interventional procedure done in a cath lab to remove the clot stuck in the vessel of the brain, said Mr Badari, who having more than 32 years experience in medical device domain, added. S3V, which is engaged in the development, manufacturing and marketing of a variety of Medical Devices, more particularly, Cardiac Devices, Neuro Devices, Nephro Devices, Onco Devices and Peripheral Devices, is now it is foraying into high precision Neuro Devices and electronics based catheters. It focuses on the manufacturing of NextGen medical devices indigenously. The neuro devices we are talking about are manufactured only by a handful of two or three countries all over the world. These are the state-of-the-art, highly advanced stents brought out only by us, said Mr. M.V. Gowthama, Director of the company who is the former CMD of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).
Mr. Gowthama, who brings core expertise in the design, development and manufacturing of critical electronic products, said Stroke also causes maximum disability leading to partial or complete paralysis in a patient next only to Road Traffic Accidents in India. Of all the strokes, 87 percent of strokes are due to a thrombus. Stroke not only affects the elderly but is increasingly being seen in individuals in the 35-50 age group due to lifestyle modifications. Lack of trained manpower, high cost of hardware and lack of government reimbursement schemes are a hindrance to treatment with this procedure. The Current cost of the Hardware costs nearly INR 5 lakhs and the total procedure cost is between INR 8 to 12 Lakhs. Currently, the procedure covers less than 1 per cent of the Stroke patient as more than 99 percent of Indians can’t afford this procedure, he said. S3V is striving to bring high-end stroke treatment technology to the common man. The challenge India faces starts from a lack of awareness, affordable hardware and availability of trained manpower in the form of intervention physicians. S3V is trying to address the entire ecosystem of this challenge, he added.