Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India, joined the launch of the BRICS Biodesign Program at the FICCI Federation House in New Delhi on 11 September 2026.  

The Programme is aimed at advancing affordable and accessible medical technology innovation across emerging economies. The main objective is to create a multi-country platform integrating clinical insight, engineering, and prototyping to fast-track medical innovations from lab concepts to patient impact across the Global South.

Supported by the Office of the PSA, the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) is establishing the BRICS+ Bio initiative. Key dignitaries at the event included Dr. Vishal Choudhary, Scientist ‘F’, Office of the PSA; Dr. Jitendra Sharma, MD & Founder CEO, AMTZ; Dr. Balram Bhargava, AIIMS, New Delhi, and Sumeet Gupta, Secretary General, FICCI.

During his address, Prof. Sood emphasized how BRICS+ cooperation serves as a vital catalyst for driving global medical technology innovation and addressing shared healthcare challenges.

Highlighting India's proactive leadership within the expanded BRICS framework, he pointed to the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) Vishakhapatnam Science and Technology Cluster—which officially serves as the BRICS+ MedTech Secretariat—as a premier global model for medtech advancement.

Prof. Sood underscored that the AMTZ-Vizag cluster successfully bridges the gap between concept and commercialization by uniting clinical expertise, engineering, rapid prototyping, large-scale manufacturing, and regulatory compliance capabilities onto a single, integrated platform.

By eliminating traditional siloed approaches, this consolidated ecosystem drastically reduces the time and cost required to bring life-saving medical devices to market. He noted that leveraging this model across BRICS+ nations can significantly enhance health equity, foster cross-border research, and build resilient, self-reliant healthcare manufacturing supply chains for the Global South and beyond.

He expressed high expectations for the structured, multi-country program, anticipating impactful outcomes from the collaboration between the AMTZ-Vizag S&T Cluster and its BRICS+ partners.