Indian researcher wins accolade at 'She Loves Tech' global

An Indian startup mentored and curated by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) for the 'She Loves Tech Global Startup Competition-2019' in Beijing has won accolades at the meet. Odisha based researcher and entrepreneur Dr Nusrat J M Sanghamitra was honored at the meet for the path-breaking cancer drug delivery device developed by CyCa OncoSolutions founded by her.

The molecular drilling device that can inject directly and precisely anti-cancer drugs to the affected cells, developed by the Odisha-based research and technology startup, has been hailed as a breakthrough in cancer treatment, a press release here said. 'She Loves Tech' is a global platform committed to building an ecosystem for technology, entrepreneurship and innovation that creates opportunities for women.

Cyca OncoSolutions had earlier won honors at the She Loves Tech India meet, organized by KSUM in Kochi recently. Following this, KSUM sent Dr Nusrat to the four-day boot camp in Beijing and subsequently, she made her way to the global summit.

Cyca OncoSolutions bagged the third prize at the summit, held to identify and encourage innovative and successful technological ventures promoted by women. Startups from Germany and US bagged the first two prizes at the summit, which had lined up 15 women-led enterprises from around the world for the final round to present their imaginative and trail-blazing products and ideas.

Cyca OncoSolutions has developed an efficient, non-toxic invitro and in vivo delivery method for various clinical applications, especially for cancer therapeutics, the release said Since the nanotechnology-based molecular drilling device has proved effective in delivering anti-cancer medicines to the affected cells directly, it is expected to cause minimum harm to the unaffected cells and to reduce the side-effects. A method that can radically improve the quality of lives of nearly 15 million cancer patients worldwide, it reduces the quantum of drugs substantially due to its precision method, besides being able to skip their side effects and making cancer manageable.

"This technology can also sharply bring down the economic and social cost of managing cancer, which especially is a major issue with public healthcare systems the world over," Dr Nusrat said. "Entrepreneurship is not just a career option. It is a way of life. It's a mindset that strives to make a difference in people's life and to make a positive impact on society by ones professional and personal endeavours", Dr Nusrat added.

Besides its application in cancer treatment, it can also be used for delivering antibiotics into drug-resistant microbes and as a one-shot gene therapy toolbox. Starting its operations from KIIT-TBI Bhubaneswar, the company recently moved to NCL Innovation Park, Pune, and its Irish branch operates from University College, Cork.

Initially, a researcher and scientist in Chemistry, Dr Nusrat's focus was to find a better anti-cancer drug with fewer side effects. So she shifted her research to protein engineering, biophysics and cell biology.