In Mexico, the scientific research usually remains in laboratories And it rarely reaches the market, a situation that limits the return on investment and the generation of new solutions for society. This was noted by Mercedes Gutiérrez Smith, co -founder of the Timser laboratory.
He stressed that 90% of the research in Mexico occurs in the institutes, but there are few medications with the institution’s brand. “It seems that there is something in the innovation system, or in the innovation ecosystem in Mexico, which It is not allowing innovations to go to the market And they really have a return to investment, and that’s why there is also much incentive to invest. ”
Given this panorama, the entrepreneur highlighted the need for Transform the country’s innovation ecosystem To make it more profitable and accessible. As well as promoting collaboration between research institutes, regulatory agencies, private initiative and civil society.
“Many times Research stays in scientific curiosityand we do not have many times the vision of getting it to the market. It is essential that there is coordination between government, academia, companies and civil society, so that together we can get innovations. ”
The role of researchers
Timser’s co -founder acknowledged that One of the great challenges is the distrust of the researchers themselveswho fear losing control of their ideas. “Fear, although it is founded, can stop you a lot, because you can’t do it alone. Large innovations, large companies that bring a lot of market value do not form a single person, a team is formed.”
He explained that it is essential that scientists learn to Form multidisciplinary teams —Legales, financial and commercial – that help them take their projects to the market. To do this, an ecosystem is required that protects them and motivates them to create together.
This distrust must be mitigating with very specific actions, such as opening companies to listen to them, tax incentives for funds to invest, culture of resilience, because in innovation it fails many times. ”
Timser and innovation with social impact
The Mexican laboratory Timser was born by detecting inequality in access to health, particularly in the care of girls against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV).
Since its foundation, the vision was clear; ally with researchers to develop final productshigh impact and low cost, in the shortest possible time.
Thus arose Preventixa test that is capable of detecting protein biomarkers in the blood, with a 97% effectiveness to Detect cervical cancer and 85% for injuries and work on human papillomavirus (HPV)
The company has already obtained three innovative patents, two focused on women’s health and one more in respiratory diseases. However, Mercedes Gutiérrez pointed out that Investment in research and development in Mexico remains limitedjust 0.5 percent.
The gender gap in innovation
Gutiérrez Smith also emphasized the importance of Promote innovation led by women. “The few patents that are approved in the country are women, less than 2%,” he said, while requested more institutional support.
In addition, he stressed that the Lack of tax incentives represents another brake: “There is no public resource for innovation. Innovation is not tax deductible.”
Despite this panorama, the specialist is confident that Mexico advances towards a model where Research can be transformed into solutions concrete for society. “To the extent that this ecosystem begins to get engaged and take a little more form, we will see a lot of investment in the country in this type of research.”
