“Centre for Medical Innovation & Entrepreneurship” (CMIE) at AIIMS, Delhi is the 60th Bio-Incubator under the BIRAC – BioNEST Scheme.
Contacts
9th Floor, National Centre for Aging AIIMS, New Delhi
cmie@aiims.edu
9th Floor, National Centre for Aging AIIMS, New Delhi
cmie@aiims.edu
What We Offer: Translation of health technologies through access to clinical and scientific mentorship, product refinement, regulatory advisory, research infrastructure, clinical validation and structured mentorship.
Eligibility Criteria:
Key Incubation Conditions:
India stands at a pivotal inflection point in its healthcare evolution, where the convergence of scale, policy momentum, and digital capability has created a unique opportunity to build one of the world’s most impactful healthcare innovation ecosystems.
To unlock the next phase of healthcare innovation in India, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi has set – up the “Centre for Medical Innovation and Entrepreneurship” (CMIE–AIIMS, New Delhi), the AIIMS, New Delhi Bio-incubator with funding support from BIRAC and AIIMS, New Delhi, New Delhi. CMIE–AIIMS, New Delhi was set up with an aim to create an ecosystem of “Incubation of Medical Innovations for Entrepreneurship and Inclusive Development of Indian Health Care”. Embedded within a clinical setting, such an incubator would integrate research, patient access, real-world validation, and multidisciplinary expertise—enabling rapid prototyping, evidence generation, and faster translation of innovations into deployable solutions. As a convergence platform, the CMIE–AIIMS, New Delhi transforms fragmented innovation efforts into a coordinated pipeline of clinically validated, market-ready solutions—positioning India to move from incremental progress to globally competitive, system-level healthcare transformation.
This guideline governs incubation, mentorship, use of facilities, compliance, intellectual property, confidentiality, financial obligations, monitoring, graduation, and exit of incubatees at CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi.
This guideline shall be read with the:
In case of inconsistency, the executed agreement and specific approval of the competent authority shall prevail.
CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi offers a high-impact, execution-driven solution to bridge the gap between discovery, clinical validation, and large-scale deployment. CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi, seeks to capitalize on indigenous academic innovations in the healthcare sector by enabling Indian start-ups to leverage the mentorship and guidance of AIIMS, New Delhi clinical and non-clinical faculty/scientists, and also by addressing key bottlenecks by fostering clinician–technologist collaboration (expertise gap), streamlining regulatory navigation and ethics approvals (regulatory gap), channelling catalytic capital into deep-tech innovation funding gap), and providing access to testing labs, clinical trial ecosystems, and hospital networks (infrastructure gap) at nominal payment structure.
CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi operates at the critical innovation phase, transitioning proof-of-concept technologies into commercially viable healthcare products. Start-ups with government or non-government funding are incubated based on alignment with CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi’s goal of transforming research into validated, market-ready products. In its selection of Start-ups to associate with, the CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi prioritizes not only their potential for commercial impact, but also their potential social impact. The CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi also enables faculty members and scientists of AIIMS, New Delhi to engage with outside talent to conduct translational research and build products to bring to the market.
CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi encourages innovations in all wakes of healthcare with a preference for cutting-edge emerging technologies such as precision/molecular medicine, nanomedicine, regenerative medicine, biologics, robotics, AI-enabled medical devices, imaging, and applications of data science in medicine, including digital health. CMIE – AIIMS, New Delhi can utilize the advanced research infrastructure in AIIMS, New Delhi which includes the Central Core Research Facility (CCRF), Sophisticated Analytical Instrumentation Facility (SAIF), Central Animal Facility, the Centre of Excellences (COEs). The existing facilities of the preclinical and clinical trial will be a great opportunity for the incubates for seamless translation of their innovations from bench to bedside. With super specialty centres and departments in AIIMS, New Delhi, the incubatees of CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi can access a large number of experts from diverse domains of health care and biomedical research as mentors guiding the innovators to develop interventions/products validating their Quality, Safety, Efficacy & Performance status, empowering indigenisation and “Make in India” program with global recognition.
A network is being developed with other leading Indian Institutions, Incubators and Industries for the development of emerging technology-based products according to the critical need of the country and global requirements. Entrepreneurial activity and business development initiatives will be spearheaded by experienced management and business development professionals, ensuring strategic planning and execution. CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi provides a fully integrated incubation framework, including preclinical and clinical trials, ensuring that innovations progress through all necessary regulatory and developmental stages.
The aim of CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi is to create a structured ecosystem for the incubation of medical innovations that promote entrepreneurship, indigenous technology development, and inclusive healthcare impact.
Incubation at CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi shall be available only to a registered legal entity (incorporated as Private limited company under Companies Act 2013 or registered as LLP under the Limited Liability Partnership Act 2008) preferably a DPIIT-recognised start-up with a focus on medical innovations at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3 and above.
Note: Applications by individual innovators may be considered only for preliminary discussion at CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi discretion; however, execution of incubation documentation, facility access, and full incubation shall require a registered entity.
The innovation should be in healthcare, med-tech, diagnostics, digital health, medical biotechnology, therapeutics, assistive technology, public health, biomedical engineering, or allied areas aligned with AIIMS, New Delhi /CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi priorities.
| Evaluation Parameters | Weightage (%) | Key Evaluation Consideration |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical need & problem significance | 20 | Unmet clinical need disease burden relevance, healthcare gap addressed, alignment with Indian/public health priorities, clinician validation |
| Innovation & Intellectual Property Potential | 15 | Novelty, differentiation from existing solutions, patentability, defensibility, indigenous innovation potential |
| Scientific & Technical Feasibility | 15 | Technical robustness, proof-of-concept, maturity, engineering/ scientific validation, prototype readiness, feasibility of execution |
| Clinical Translation & Validation Potential | 10 | Potential for pilot testing, clinical studies, validation roadmap, usability in hospital ecosystems, translational readiness |
| Team Capability & Multi-disciplinary Strength | 10 | Founder competency, domain expertise, clinical-engineer collaboration, execution ability, commitment level |
| Regulatory, Ethics & quality Readiness | 8 | CDSCO/regulatory pathway awareness, ethics understanding, medical device classification awareness, data privacy/ compliance readiness |
| Market Potential & Commercial Viability | 8 | Scalability, affordability, market need, reimbursement potential, business model clarity |
| Social Impact & Accessibility | 7 | Impact on underserved populations, affordability, rural/ public health utility, inclusiveness, SDG alignment |
| Strategic Fit with AIIMS, New Delhi ecosystem | 4 | Use of AIIMS, New Delhi clinical ecosystem, synergy with institutional expertise, collaborative translational opportunities |
| Funding Readiness Sustainability | 3 | Realistic financial planning, grant readiness, sustainability potential, investor attractiveness |
Note: Applications submitted via email will not be considered.
Each incubatee may be assigned one or more AIIMS, New Delhi mentor(s) according to project need and mentor availability. The mentor role shall be advisory and shall not constitute AIIMS, New Delhi endorsement, certification, product approval, regulatory approval, clinical validation, procurement recommendation, or guarantee of performance. Appointment as mentor shall not by itself approve any founder, promoter, board, shareholder, executive, or non-executive role; such engagement shall require separate disclosure and approval under applicable AIIMS, New Delhi policies.
No human study, animal study, clinical validation, patient interaction, clinical data access, biological/clinical sample use, or biosafety-related work shall commence without prior approval from the relevant institutional committee(s) and CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi. Applicable committees may include the Institutional Ethics Committee, Institutional Animal Ethics Committee, Biosafety Committee, and any other committee/ regulatory authority as required.
Incubatees shall independently comply with applicable laws and regulatory requirements, including those relating to medical devices, diagnostics, therapeutics, software as a medical device, clinical trials, biomedical research, biosafety, data protection, and hospital safety. Incubation at CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi shall not be construed as a waiver of any statutory, regulatory, ethical, or licensing requirement.
Incubatees handling digital personal data, health data, patient records, images, biological data, or identifiable/anonymised datasets shall comply with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, applicable rules, and institutional data governance requirements. Data access shall be based on approved purpose, minimum necessary access, security safeguards, consent/ethics approvals where applicable, retention/deletion controls, and restrictions on unauthorised sharing or third-party processing.
Incubatees shall use CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi facilities only for approved project activities and shall comply with safety, biosafety, waste disposal, access control, equipment-use, and premises rules. Incubation/facility/instrumentation charges, security deposit, and other invoices shall be paid as per the executed agreement. Non-payment, misuse, unsafe conduct, or damage to reputation/property may result in suspension, termination, and recovery of dues/damages.
Intellectual property at CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi has viewed under 2 categories:
No party shall unilaterally file, publish, disclose, license, assign, transfer, commercialise, or otherwise exploit Project IP/work results/CMIE-AIIMS, NEW DELHI-linked know-how in a manner that may compromise IP protection, confidentiality, institutional rights, or contractual obligations. Publications, presentations, public communications, and regulatory/investor disclosures referring to CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi or AIIMS, New Delhi, mentors, results, or institutional contributions shall require prior written approval wherever applicable.
CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi applicants, incubatees, mentors, reviewers, and third-party experts shall maintain confidentiality of proprietary, technical, commercial, financial, research, clinical, institutional, and patient-related information received during evaluation or incubation. External reviewers/committee members may be required to execute confidentiality obligations before receiving confidential information. Applicants should mark confidential information appropriately; however, all sensitive information shall be handled with reasonable care even when not marked.
The confidentiality obligation shall survive rejection, completion, graduation, termination, or expiry of incubation. It shall not apply to information already in the public domain, independently developed without use of confidential information, lawfully received from a third party, or required to be disclosed under law/regulatory/judicial/governmental direction.
No incubatee shall use the AIIMS, New Delhi or CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi name, logo, emblem, address, letterhead, institutional affiliation, photographs, mentor identity/opinion, clinical data, sample access, facility access, or project results for commercial promotion, fundraising, regulatory representation, media, website, pitch deck, product label, advertisement, or public communication without prior written approval. The AIIMS, New Delhi logo, however, cannot be used anywhere. Incubation shall not imply endorsement, validation, certification, procurement preference, or product approval by AIIMS, New Delhi /CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi.
Incubation shall end on expiry of the approved term unless extended by CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi. CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi may also require graduation or exit where the incubatee reaches scale, no longer requires incubation support, fails to comply with obligations, or otherwise ceases to align with the objectives of CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi. The MoU may also terminate forthwith on or prior to the term of the agreement under the following conditions:
Note: Regardless matter what is said elsewhere, CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi decision on an incubatee firm’s exit is final and cannot be contested by any incubatee company.
All stakeholders, including CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi members, employees, mentors, consultants, affiliates, incubatees, promoters, staff, service providers, and reviewers, shall disclose actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest at the earliest opportunity. Conflict may include financial, personal, professional, institutional, or decision-making interests that may compromise or appear to compromise impartiality.
CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi may require recusal, reallocation of duties, modification/suspension/ termination of involvement, withdrawal of incubation support, referral to the competent authority, legal action, or constitution of an appropriate committee to resolve conflict, confidentiality, or compliance issues.
CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi provides support in good faith to promote healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship. Incubation shall not constitute a guarantee of success, marketability, regulatory approval, clinical adoption, investment, procurement, consultant performance, or satisfaction with services. Incubatees shall exercise independent judgment and shall remain responsible for their business, technical, legal, regulatory, ethical, data, and commercial decisions.
This guideline may be amended, supplemented, or withdrawn by AIIMS, New Delhi /CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi from time to time. The decision of CMIE-AIIMS, New Delhi/competent authority in matters of admission, incubation, monitoring, extension, graduation, exit, and guideline interpretation shall be final. Disputes shall be governed by the executed agreements and applicable laws, with jurisdiction as specified therein, ordinarily in New Delhi, India.