Indian’s ban on imports of refurbished medical devices is disrupting the supply of affordable diagnostic and treatment equipment, but local medtech startups hold significant potential to address the gaps in product availability.
Indian Startups Look To Fill The Void Left By The Refurbished Medical Device Ban
The burgeoning medtech startup ecosystem in India has shown promise in innovation – can it step up?
Indian startups hold significant potential to address the gap created by the ban on import of refurbished medical products, but they face challenges on several fronts and call for more government support.

More from Startups & SMEs
Health tech is at the forefront of the women's health sector, securing 38% of venture capital in 2024. However, panelists at the Anglonordic Life Science Conference held 3 April asserted that a successful therapeutic breakthrough is key to gaining investor confidence and accelerating venture capital.
Only 16% of venture capital general partners in Europe are women, and only 9% of those have actual investment power. Thena Capital is aiming to "redefine the image of a venture capitalist."
The urine-based GAGome test showed promise in the first clinical results from the international AURORAX-0087A, in the largest study conducted on clear cell renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer.
With the support of AIM-MASH AI Assist only one pathologist is needed to reliably make a histology assessment of inflammatory liver disease to decide whether patients should be included in MASH clinical trials.
More from Geography
Medtech has not yet been spared from the Trump administration’s trade tariffs, which, for UK exporters will be 10% – half the rate applied to EU27 exporters.
Medical devices, diagnostics, and equipment face tariffs announced by President Donald Trump, despite industry pleas for exemption. The tariffs, ranging from 10%-49%, impact most countries trading with the US, potentially hindering innovation and increasing costs in the medtech sector.
The US FDA has published its final document to guide sponsors on using sex-specific data in designing clinical trials of medical devices. However, the guidance removes all references to gender that appeared in January’s draft guidance, released before the Trump administration took office.