Technology Commercialization in Developing Countries: a

Multidisciplinary Approach

Beyond Traditional BordersUndergraduate program at Rice

• Students learn the engineering design process and apply it to designing solutions to real-world global health challenges provided by our partners.

• Students have the opportunity to apply for internships that allow them to travel to our partners’ sites to implement the designs.

Iterative Technology Design Process

Beyond the Classroom… Into the Field

Impact of the BTB program

• These technologies have been used in 21 countries

• Over 45,000 people have been directly and positively impacted through the use of these technologies

28 designs by 359 students have been evaluated or used in the field

HaitiMexico

NicaraguaEcuador

Guatemala Honduras

LesothoSwaziland

Botswana

Rwanda

MozambiqueMalawi

Tanzania

Sierra Leone

United States

Dominican Republic

Myanmar

Niger

Kenya

Peru

India

“Now we will have “a little hospital when we go to the villages”.

Sustainable Dissemination• Opportunity:

– Have suite of successful global health technologies – Generating unsolicited consumer demand

• Goals:– Maximize dissemination in low-resource

communities– Ensure sustainable dissemination– Educate students – Highlight Rice’s role in development

Challenge

To enable the technologies to reach a large population, widespread sustainable dissemination through a commercial model is required.

Commercializing Health Technologies in the Developing World

• Course offered as a joint venture by Rice 360° and the Rice University Jones School of Business.

• Undergraduates and MBA students • 10 technologies from the BTB program have had

business plans developed over the past 3 years. • Travel to Rwanda

o Perform a needs assessment o Learn the challenges of

developing a successful business

Commercializing Health Technologies in the Developing World

• Teams leverage business principles to create new business plans/ sustainable dissemination systems for specific global health technologies. – 4 teams per course offering – 4-5 MBA students plus

1 undergraduate engineering student per team – NCIIA funded undergraduate

participation– Course taught 3 times

– Produce and implement businesses that are economical and self-sustaining to disseminate technologies in the developing world.

Rwanda Experience

Key constituent meetings:• Ministry of Health, Regulatory agencies, local businessmen,

NGO’s, embassy officials, physicians, nurses, pharmacies, procurement officials, observations at hospitals

Rwanda ExperienceKey questions that teams worked to answer:• Who are the customers? How would product get paid for?

• What are the relevant medical device regulations in Rwanda? What is the process for approval?

• Who procures medical equipment for government hospitals/clinics? Private hospitals?

Rwanda Experience

Key questions that teams worked to answer:• What is the perceived value of the device? What is the need

in this country? What is a reasonable price point?

• What are existing medical device distribution channels in Rwanda?

• What are the challenges with importing products into Rwanda?

• What is the manufacturing capacity in Rwanda?

• Who are potential partners in Rwanda?

Immediate Response • Each of the technologies had an excellent reception, with

physicians, Ministry of Health and other stakeholders interested in having access to them commercially.

• Teams developed a good understanding of regulatory hurdles, government procurement processes and potential manufacturing within Rwanda.

• Most technologies would need a bigger market than the one but Rwanda was an excellent test- bed for the teams.

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Success Stories- Dosing Clip

‘On their way to success’ story- CPAP• Winner- Social Ventures Award -Rice Business

Plan Competition • NCIIA e-Team grant• Clinical Study in late planning stages

A word from a student

• Lessons Learned• Surprises• Educational Value• Next Steps

Ongoing Challenges

• Medical technologies and regulatory challenges• Clinical trials costly• Moving from low numbers of laboratory built

prototypes to scalable manufacturing• “Valley of Death” for moving academic

innovations is magnified for product that has small market with lower opportunity to capitalize

45,000 people in 21 countries have benefited from 28 new technologies designed by 359 Rice students

www.rice360.rice.edu www.btb.rice.edu

Technologies Tackled

• 1 – 2 Backpack / backpack Suite- 2• 1 – 3 Hot Cot/Phototherapy lights 1, 1• 1 Dosing pump, 1• 2-3 Dosing clamps,2• 2- CPAP, 1• 3- Hemospec, 1• 3- Sally, 1• 2- IV Drip Monitor, 1