IIT Kanpur's SIIC & Boehringer Ingelheim India Forge Partnership for Dementia Care

Boehringer Ingelheim's grant supports the development of an app utilizing Dementia Application and Diagnosis & Tracking technology.

The Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Boehringer Ingelheim India, a prominent global pharmaceutical company, to advance innovative solutions in dementia care.

The Boehringer Ingelheim India team, including MD Gagandeep Singh Bedi and director of Government and Public Affairs Prabhat Sinha, visited SIIC, IIT Kanpur to solidify their partnership in fostering healthcare innovations.

The MoU was exchanged between Prof Ankush Sharma, professor-in-charge of SIIC, IIT Kanpur, and Gagandeep Singh Bedi.

Upon signing the MoU, Prof Sharma said, "SIIC, IITK is home to medical technologies with a strong social impact. Boehringer Ingelheim's support aligns perfectly with our vision to create a healthy India for all. It enables us to empower the startup community, fostering an ecosystem of innovation and collaboration. Together, we are not just dreaming of a better future, we are actively building it."

The Partnership Agenda

As a part of the deal, Boehringer Ingelheim's grant supports Manastik Technologies, a startup incubated at SIIC that claims to be developing India's first tele neurorehabilitation app for dementia care and diagnosis.

The app, utilizing DADT (Dementia Application and Diagnosis & Tracking) technology, offers personalized assistance from doctors and neuro healthcare professionals, addressing the growing burden of dementia and mental health disorders in India.

The grant will help validate the app, raise awareness, and support nationwide dementia screening campaigns.

This initiative builds on Boehringer Ingelheim's previous support for Lenek Technologies, another SIIC-incubated startup, in 2023. Lenek Technologies worked on improving tuberculosis screening with a handheld X-ray device.

Highlighting the significance of this partnership, Gagandeep Singh Bedi said, "Our second collaboration with IIT Kanpur reinforces our belief in the power of collective innovation. We bring together scientific communities, patients, and healthcare systems to develop new, holistic, and sustainable breakthrough therapies that address healthcare's greatest challenges."

According to the Global Burden of Disease Study in 2019, India ranked as the fourth largest contributor to the global burden of dementia.

Projections suggest that by 2050, India will surpass Japan and the USA to have the second-highest number of dementia cases globally. This collaboration aims to address the growing challenge of dementia in India directly.