Let the solutions not stay in the laboratory

There must be no shortage of ideas born in university laboratories by Mexican researchers who ultimately end up publishing only a scientific article, leaving their genius, which could have been a solution for patients, trapped there, never reaching those who need it. A molecule that could save lives, a therapy that could have changed the fate of millions of patients with diabetes, or a technology that could have revolutionized medical care—but in the end, all of it remained just that: brilliant ideas.

This has been the fate of many innovations in Mexico for too long, which is why we depend heavily on importing foreign medical innovation.

Given this reality, initiatives such as the call launched yesterday, August 5, by the INCIDE Foundation, together with the Chilean consulting firm New Genesis and eight Mexican pharmaceutical companies, are encouraging. This call is for researchers to present their ideas, and those with the greatest potential to become tangible projects and, in the future, medical options that can be launched on the market will be selected. It indicates that this story can change and shine a light on productive science in our country.

They call it Booster 2025, an intensive eight-week program that offers more than 150 hours of mentoring in technology validation, regulation, intellectual property, business models, and capital raising.

Diego Ocampo Gutiérrez de Velasco, president of the INCIDE Foundation and vice president of technology at Grupo Neolpharma, explains it clearly: “Many projects have very good scientific support, but the time to scale them up to an industrial production level, so that they reach a patient or end user, is cut short because we lack the chains that add value and mature the technology.”

The idea behind this initiative is precisely to provide regulatory and production expertise to help promising projects advance beyond the clinical phase, secure crucial financing, and be produced on an industrial scale, thus lowering costs and reaching the people who need them.

The call, open until September 19, invites universities, research centers, startups, and science- and technology-based companies (SBCs) to transform their ideas into real-world solutions. The consortium of Mexican pharmaceutical companies supporting the program is Carnot Laboratories, Chinoin, IFA Celtics, Silanes, Neolpharma, Laboratorios Sanfer, Senosiain, Probiomed, and UDIBI. The program offers access to more than 60 certified plants, an R&D investment of over $1 billion, and international marketing networks. The process will culminate in a Demo Day on October 13, where participants will present their projects to investors and strategic partners, opening doors to national and international markets.

This Booster, they mentioned, supports President Claudia Sheinbaum's Plan Mexico, which aims to attract $2 billion annually in clinical research, increase the production of medical supplies by 15%, and manufacture vaccines and biosimilars in Mexico. This would not only represent scientific progress but also an economic engine to generate jobs, wealth, and national competitiveness.

Ocampo shared with us an inspiring example: the first licensing of a therapeutic molecule between Neolpharma and UNAM. After seven years of collaborative work with the Institute of Biomedical Research and the Cancer Institute (InCan), a drug combination to treat a type of cancer was incorporated into national therapeutic guidelines. This case demonstrates that, with patience and collaboration, Mexican ideas can reach patients. Booster 2025 seeks to replicate this model, breaking down the barriers that have hindered academic-business collaboration.

If the planets align in favor of productive science in Mexico, it's wonderful to imagine that in the future we can retain many young people who only find the opportunity to innovate and deploy their knowledge and talent abroad when they are most needed here, when—as Diego says—there are many young people pursuing doctorates with ideas that could change the world. At INCIDE, we allow ourselves to imagine that in Mexico we can build an ecosystem where these minds can shine, connecting their innovations with industry and the market.

IMSS will no longer outsource hemodialysis; it relies on Creamedic, part of Grupo CIE.

The announcement by Zoé Robledo, director of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), regarding the new hemodialysis unit in Aguascalientes reveals a fundamental change in kidney damage care policy: a return to direct management of essential services, leaving behind outsourcing to private providers. Her criticism of the uneven quality of private providers and the inconvenience for patients when switching providers points to a system that, until now, prioritized contracts over people. Interestingly, the company installing the new prototype unit in Aguascalientes, not outsourced but operated directly by IMSS personnel, will be Creamedic, part of the CIE Group (yes, the concert and entertainment company that entered the healthcare sector on the right foot during the pandemic with the COVID care unit at the CitiBanamex Center). Creamedic said in a statement that the unit will have 94 state-of-the-art machines with high standards of safety and medical quality; as well as nephrology consulting rooms, stabilization areas, isolation zones, and restrooms, among other areas and services. The injunction mentioned by Robledo (understood to be from the outgoing company) is striking because it suggests that the transition will not be smooth. We'll find out.

Mexican startup Timser recognized at Tech4Eva 2025

And speaking of Mexican science on the global stage, the biomedical laboratory Timser Group, specializing in women's health, was selected from among 195 proposals from 42 countries to participate in Tech4Eva 2025, the leading international recognition and acceleration program for innovation in women's health. It was the only startup from the country chosen this year, and it was for Preventix, a blood-based biomarker screening test for the early detection of cervical cancer. The test achieves a sensitivity of 85% from a simple blood sample. Unlike traditional methods such as the Pap smear, it does not require gynecological instrumentation or specialized clinical conditions, which facilitates its implementation even in areas with limited medical services.

Biofusion, a biotechnology, health, and innovation event

Still on topic, the Biofusion Ibero-American Congress on Biotechnology, Health, and Innovation is coming up. It will take place on August 20, 21, and 22, 2025, with 100% online sessions. Organized jointly by the Graduate Studies Division of the UNAM School of Law and the Association of Professional Experts in the Right to Health (ProdeSalud), it will discuss innovation in the healthcare field, including aspects of biotechnology, regulatory approval of new treatments, regulatory cooperation and improvement, intellectual property, digital transformation in healthcare, orphan drugs, access models, new technologies, medical devices, and mechanisms for achieving access to healthcare.