Health research lacks of a focus and efficiency manifested in the absence of projects that generate tangible solutions to health problems in Mexico, isolated and unorganized efforts have focused on purely academic production without the intention of generating Mexican clinical trials, jobs, patents, and products that provide a direct and substantial benefit to society.
Undoubtedly, there is good medical practice in Mexico, but like most technological fields that are developed in Mexico, the registration of inventions is extremely low. Taking the total percentage of inventions that are owned by Mexicans and that are registered in Mexico (in the health area), it does not exceed 6%. This implies the high technological dependence of the country since 94% of the technology is owned by foreigners, it becomes evident the need to a direct part of the research to solve problems that arise in our country.
In the area of Ophthalmology the percentage is even lower, does not exceed 3%, so that 97% of the technology available in the sector is owned by foreigners, where the temporary monopoly that is generated with the figures of inventions allows the imposition of premium prices and the consequent exit of capital from the country via royalties.
It requires an increasingly closer participation between research entities in our country and national companies that compete with products and services in each of the sectors. In the knowledge economy, the foregoing is fundamental for the competitiveness of the country’s companies.
That’s why the Medical and Surgical Retina Center offers the service of Mexican clinical trials by the joint of resources and health personnel to increase efficiency and innovation through an interdisciplinary interaction between researchers and staff dedicated to patient care. The Center identifies therapeutic and/or preventive diagnostic ideas generated by health personnel and/or researchers and translates this knowledge into clinical studies that directly impact patients. An essential tool to identify global trends in research and development in the area of retina-ophthalmology is the implementation of a technological observatory.
Medical and Surgical Retina Center has this type of tool thanks to the strategic alliance established with the Tecnologico de Monterrey. This way, the Medical and Surgical Retina Center Business Units dedicated to the research and development of drugs (IBT) and biomedical devices (ABT), as well as our Clinical Research Unit (CRU), define the projects with full knowledge of the environment
Our company participates constantly in clinical research in collaboration with biotechnology companies, some of them foreign, and has participated in multiple research projects authorized by COFEPRIS in order to develop Mexican clinical trials.
In addition, 10 technological developments have been generated in the Center that is already present in the market and are protected by patent applications at the IMPI, of which 4 have already been granted.
In the case of technology-based companies and research and technological development activities, the Medical and Surgical Retina Center is recognized nationally and internationally due to the satisfaction obtained in various Mexican clinical trials carried out (authorized and recognized by COFEPRIS). These trials have resulted in obtaining records for free sale by the competent authorities. The quality of the information obtained from clinical studies in the Retina center has allowed foreign companies to have economic resources from private investment funds.
The establishment of a technology management model has allowed us to venture into research, innovation and development processes. This activity is based on the identification of the primary health needs for the area of ophthalmology at the national and regional level. Once these needs have been identified, an analysis of technological observation is made to identify trends and opportunities for technological development. Through a multidisciplinary approach and with an orientation towards the solution of problems, proposals for technological developments are analyzed, which are evaluated and selected. Subsequently, making use of the previously established strategic alliances, the planning of research projects begins, in order to generate the necessary information that allows intellectual protection, production and commercial exploitation of products.
An essential part of this process is the strict adherence to good clinical practices and current regulations. Once the Mexican clinical trials are designed, approval is obtained from a Research Ethics Committee registered with CONBIOETICA and the corresponding authorization from COFEPRIS. In order to improve this activity, a Clinical Research Unit and a technology-based unit for drugs (Biomedical and Technological Innovations SA of CV-IBT) and one for biomedical devices (Applied Biomedical Technologies) were created in the Medical and Surgical Retina Center SA de CV-ABT) whose processes are aligned to ISO 9001: 2015 for clinical research units.
As a result of this activity, there are 4 patents granted by the IMPI, of which 9 technological developments were generated, which are commercially exploited by a company with 100% Mexican capital belonging to the pharmaceutical sector. All of the above has generated prestige, positioning at the regional, national and international level, as well as income from the payment of significant royalties to our company.
Some additional concepts that our model considers are:
- Human capital: There is a unique interaction between doctors, nurses, biomedical engineers, nutritionists and biotechnologists who work closely with researchers in various areas such as pharmaceutical prescription, biotechnological products, biomaterials, and tissue engineering, biomedical image processing and biomedical devices.
- Equipment: The Center has the necessary equipment for the identification and analysis of drugs and medical devices, the checking of concepts, the application in the patient and the analysis of data.
- Operational processes: the technological management model involves the basic research process, the discovery and measurement of molecules, the design of biomedical devices, the development of concepts, the design of clinical studies, budgeting, coordination of studies, analysis and reporting of studies, to be able to be taken to a patentable and marketable product that could be of benefit to the population.
The central axis of this center is its technology management model, unique and innovative in Mexico, which in addition to identifying health needs in the state of Jalisco and Mexico, identifies technological trends (Technological Observatory) in the biopharmaceutical area and bio-instrumentation for the development of applied research projects that culminate in the generation of patentable products susceptible to commercialization, solving the main health problems of the regional and national population. The dynamic programmed for our Center encourages the convergence of the teaching, research and technology-based high impact areas of entrepreneurship.
The sectors that benefit from the services and products generated by this center are the society in general and particularly higher education institutions, the pharmaceutical industry, the medical devices industry, health professionals, both clinical and those dedicated to research as well as the public and private health sector. The structure facilitates the process of innovation by accelerating the process of developing pharmaceutical products and medical devices to be applied clinically in an expeditious manner and thus provide a solution to health problems while generating prestige, human capital, and investment opportunities.