BioSpectrum Asia December 2021

www.biospectrumasia.com S$ 5.00

Volume 16 | Issue 12 | December 2021

Reality of Universal Cancer Prevention & Cure - 31
“Our goal is to decouple process from the product.”
-Dr Udit Batra, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Waters Corporation, USA – 38

MCI (P) 014/06/2021

Is this the end
of offshoring
for biopharma?

59% 67%

of biopharma executives say say that the manufacturing of
that the era of offshoring drug biologics is likely to increase
manufacturing to low-cost dramatically in their country
countries is over over the next three years

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©2021 Cytiva

For local office contact information, visit cytiva.com/contact

CY24428-17Sep21-AD

Cytiva and the Drop logo are trademarks of Life Sciences IP Holdings Corp. or an affiliate doing business as Cytiva.
©2021 Cytiva

For local office contact information, visit cytiva.com/contact

CY24428-17Sep21-AD

4 BIO EDIT

BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | www.biospectrumasia.com

Dr Milind Kokje ACHIEVING UNFETTERED FDI

Chief Editor The Union Government has been inviting investors to invest in different industry
and services sectors with more focus on pharmaceutical space as well. Recently,
[email protected] Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister reiterated the
government’s intention when he asked the pharma industry to make India a manufacturing
base for drugs as well as medical devices. The government is even wooing foreign investors
and has reached out to some of the top US pharma companies, seeking investment.

When Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister of India was in the US recently,
attending the annual meet of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), she had invited investments in all sectors including pharma. In her meeting with
leaders of global corporations, she elaborated on government incentives to promote
innovations in the life sciences and pharma sector, including production linked incentive
(PLI) schemes that will provide the investors new opportunities.

The PLI scheme is for promoting domestic manufacturing by setting up greenfield
plants with minimum domestic value addition in four segments of pharma to achieve
self-reliance and minimise import dependency. As part of this, an additional outlay of Rs
197,000 crore (US $26,578.3 million) was announced by the government in June 2021.
It will be utilised over five years in 13 key sectors like active pharmaceutical ingredients,
drug intermediaries and key starting materials.

The country has already seen a substantial increase in investment. As far as foreign
direct investment (FDI) is concerned, the Indian pharma sector received $18 billion
from April 2000 to date. The year on year rise in FDI in 2020 was 98 per cent. A major
advantage for domestic industry due to focus on generic drugs is related to cost. The cost
advantage over the developed markets is estimated to be 50 per cent and 87 per cent for
production and R&D respectively. Our share in total Abbreviated New Drug Application
(ANDA) approvals has increased from around 40 per cent in 2020 to around 44 per cent
as of June 2021. Although the government’s efforts to attract investment are showing
some positive results, much more needs to be done, beyond infrastructure, if it wants to
make the country the best investment destination in pharma. That much more will have
to be in two major areas – regulatory framework and quality.

The government is already in the process of drafting a totally new Drugs and
Cosmetics Act replacing the very old existing Act of 1940. Hence, it is an apt opportunity
to understand the industry views and concerns for the corrective steps to make important
changes on the basis of the Act. Experts feel that the thrust of the new law should be that
implementation will be based on technology and science. It should aim at reducing the
number of prosecutions considering that the court cases take too long time to conclude
and in the process the number of pending cases keep rising. Instead, the emphasis should
be on resolving the disputes through adjudication and appellate tribunals. The appellate
authorities should have a techno-legal focus.

Such a basic thought about the new law will not only ease the regulatory issues, but
will also take care of the quality concerns. This is also important from the point of view
of seeking investments since the products manufactured here will ultimately be examined
and approved by drug regulatory authorities of other countries, as they are to be exported.

In a recent interview to a business magazine, US Food and Drug Administration
(USFDA) spokesperson Jeremy Kahn said that while some Indian companies meet US
product quality standards, others do encounter problems and operational challenges.
They include inadequate or poor quality systems implementation, data integrity issues,
inadequate validation of various processes used in manufacturing or testing, and product
contamination. Even after setting up USFDA-approved plants, they have had some
quality-related issues in recent years.

Improvement in the regulation-related issues will help in attracting investment
and making India a manufacturing hub for generic medicines as targeted by the
government.

BIO MAIL 5

BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | www.biospectrumasia.com

Acknowledgements In general, we are happy for your patience
and understanding with us throughout
The interview with Terumo Asia Holdings this process. We liked that you gave us
seems comprehensive. BioSpectrum is a some freedom to give our quotes. We are
well-received publication in India. I was not happy with the cover story article of the
familiar with the Asia edition, but having November edition. Your efforts are very
gone through the publication, it seems quite much appreciated.
nicely done. All the very best.
- Nur Akmar Yusoff, Malaysia
- Probir Das, India

BioSpectrum Asia has given myself and Diabetes reversal is the buzzword that
the team at Real Tech Holdings a chance every person living with Type 2 diabetes is
to significantly word-out and align the curious about. If achieved at scale, it could
different strategies on one direction, and potentially slow down the speed with which
promote, share to different partners our way we are heading towards reaching the 130
moving forward. Overall the opportunity million number. Thank you BioSpectrum
was more than delightful. Many thanks! for featuring Fitterfly among the crusaders
in the war against diabetes.
- Daiki Kumamoto, Japan
- Dr Arbinder Singal, India

Vol 16; Issue 12; December 2021 MM Activ Singapore Pte. Ltd. Taiwan
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6 BIO CONTENT

BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | www.biospectrumasia.com

Despite advances in development of countermeasures such as diagnostics,
therapeutics and vaccines, world travel and increased global
interdependence have added layers of complexity to containing
infectious diseases. COVID-19, an
outcome of weaponisation by
genetic manipulation as part
of ‘gain of function’ research,
had brought the entire world
to its knees in less than six
months. Now, researchers and
policymakers are being more vigilant
towards surveillance and management of
emerging infectious disease threats, and revisit
global mechanisms for the control of pandemic disease. In
addition to other countries across the globe, 2021 saw many initiatives
taken by the APAC region to strengthen their capacities for effective preparedness and
for the prevention of new and existing infectious diseases.

Focusing on

VIGILANCE &
PREPAREDNESS

CANCER CURE SPEAKING WITH

31 34

Reality of Universal Cancer Prevention & Cure “Uptick in public & private
investors is enabling
standalone companies”

Stephan Emmerth,
Director Business Development &
Operations, BaseLaunch, Switzerland

BIO CONTENT 7

BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | www.biospectrumasia.com

SPEAKING WITH

COVER STORY 20 38

22 28 “Our goal is to decouple
process from the product”
PHARMA/BIOPHARMA MEDTECH/
DIAGNOSTICS Dr Udit Batra,
25 President and Chief Executive Officer,
29 Waters Corporation, USA
DIGITAL HEALTHCARE
BIOSERVICES IMMUNISATION
26
41
BIOSUPPLIERS
Vaccine Immunology —
SPEAKING WITH Potentially the Biggest Game
Changer in Asian Healthcare
36
Dr Simon Gallagher,
“GI’s therapeutic pipeline is General Manager India (interim),
currently focused on diseases ICMEA, Growth And Emerging Markets
with high unmet need” Business Unit, Takeda, Singapore

Bertrand Adanve, REGULARS
Founder & CEO,
Genetic Intelligence, USA BioEdit.........................................................................04
BioMail........................................................................05
Policy and Regulatory News...................................10
Company News........................................................12
Finance News............................................................14
Start-Up News...........................................................15
World News...............................................................17
WHO NEWS...............................................................19
People News..............................................................43
R&D News..................................................................45
Academic News........................................................47
Supplier News...........................................................48
Lets Talk Health........................................................50

SOLVED
WITH

CHEMISTRY & CONVICTION

Michael Stanek SMALL MOLECULE API FACT SHEET
VP Business Management,
API Global Pharma Services

Linz, Austria

Small Molecule API – Technical Capabilities PATHEON, part of Thermo Fisher Scientific
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© 2018 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. All rights reserved.
Published 10/18 PATH0519

10 REGUL ATORY NEWS

BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | www.biospectrumasia.com

Thailand approves 3.6 B Baht to develop local COVID-19 vaccines

The government of Thailand has team recently announced the be used to support research and
approved a fund of 3,625 million vaccine’s success in the first and development of the Baiya vaccine
baht for two Thai vaccine projects second phases of human trials. project, conducted jointly by
against COVID-19, ChulaCov19 Another 1,309 million baht will Chulalongkorn University and
mRNA and Baiya. Out of the Baiya Phytopharm Company.
amount, 2,316.8 million baht will It will be used for the project’s
be used for phase 3 clinical testing third-stage human trial on at least
and production of the ChulaCov19 10,000 volunteers, in accordance
mRNA vaccine (by Chulalongkorn with the criteria set by the Food
University), as well as for and Drug Administration. Baiya,
registration to be certified by the a subunit vaccine, is a plant-
Food and Drug Administration. based vaccine being developed
This project will enable Thailand by Baiya Phytopharm, a startup
to produce a COVID-19 vaccine company under the CU Enterprise
for its own use. The research programme.

India launches NZ invests $8.1M in
Ayushman Bharat Health
Infrastructure Mission MedTech to develop

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched new technologies
the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission.
Describing the initiative taken by the government under The New Zealand (NZ) government is
the new Mission, the Prime Minister said that there are investing $8.1 million over three years in
three major aspects of the Ayushman Bharat Health the MedTech Research Translator, co-led
Infrastructure Mission to address the different gaps in by the Auckland Bioengineering Institute
the health sector of the country. The first is related to (ABI) to develop new technologies that
the creation of elaborate facilities for diagnostics and could transform healthcare. The funding
treatment. Under this, Health and Wellness Centres are has been announced by the Associate
being opened in villages and cities, where there will be Minister for Research, Science and
facilities for early detection of diseases. The second aspect Innovation. It is an initiative comprising
of the scheme is related to the testing network for the two linked programmes co-funded by
diagnosis of diseases. Under this mission, the necessary the Ministry of Business and Innovation
infrastructure will be developed for the diagnosis and (MBIE) and the University of Auckland
to support collaboration in MedTech-
monitoring of diseases. 730 districts of the related research and innovation. Each
country will get integrated public health project will have a researcher, clinician,
labs and 3000 blocks will get block and commercialisation expert on the team.
public health units. The third aspect The programme will accelerate the most
is the expansion of existing research promising projects by providing pre-seed
institutions that study pandemics. funding to researchers.
Existing 80 viral diagnostic and research
labs will be strengthened, 15 biosafety
level 15 labs will be operationalised, four
new National Institutes of Virology and
a National Institute for One Health
are being established. WHO
regional research platform for
South Asia will also strengthen
this network.

REGULATORY NEWS 11

BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | www.biospectrumasia.com

Malaysia set to New 10-year plan to support
Australians with diabetes
become Hepatitis C
The Australian government has released a new 10-year plan
treatment hub to better support Australians living with all forms of diabetes.
The Australian National Diabetes Strategy 2021–2030 will
of Asia drive real improvements in the prevention, early detection,
management, and care of people with diabetes. With
insigHT2021, Malaysia’s medical approximately one in 20 Australians affected by diabetes,
travel market intelligence conference, the new strategy will bring together the latest research
featured the launch of Malaysia as and evidence to ensure that health response continues to
the Hepatitis C Treatment Hub of adapt to the changing health environment. The strategy is
Asia by Minister of Health Malaysia, aimed at all Australians living with diabetes, and includes
Yang Berhormat Khairy Jamaluddin. information relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic and living
Being the first country in the world in a safe manner and diabetes self-management. The primary
to be given conditional approval goals are to prevent people from developing type 2 diabetes;
for Ravidasvir in combination with promoting awareness and earlier detection of type 1 and
Sofosbuvir to treat Hepatitis C, type 2 diabetes; reducing the burden of diabetes and its
Malaysia is poised to offer access complications; and reducing the impact of pre-exisiting and
to an affordable and efficacious gestational diabetes in pregnancy; among others. Significant
treatment solution for those infected investments have been made in diabetes research, including
with the virus. In response to the $626 million through the National Health and Medical
World Hepatitis Day 2021 theme, Research Council since 2010, and $78 million through the
‘Hepatitis Can’t Wait’, Malaysia is Medical Research Future Fund since 2015.
ready and raring to move forward with
a treatment solution for those infected
with the disease. This is in line with
WHO’s mission to reduce new viral
hepatitis infections by 90 per cent and
reduce deaths by viral hepatitis by 65
per cent by 2030. Malaysia is offering
Hepatitis C patients a treatment with
a cure rate of 97 per cent and cost
reduction of 95 per cent.

Hong Kong provides $3M for Sydney health hub

A global collaboration to apply University College London and of Data Discovery for Health
data science and artificial- the London School of Hygiene (D24H) under the AIR@InnoHK
intelligence (AI) methods to and Tropical Medicine. The local Cluster to collate and curate
solve intractable problems in Sydney hub is part of a global massive, unique data resources
public health has been launched effort to build the Laboratory and develop novel, deep, frontier
simultaneously in Sydney and analytics in protecting global
Hong Kong (HK). The Sydney hub public health and improving
was established thanks to $HK17 individual healthcare through
million ($3 million) in funding by precision medicine. Researchers
InnoHK, a major initiative of the in Sydney will work on projects,
Hong Kong Special Administrative collaborating with the University
Region Government. The hub is of Hong Kong, to develop
part of the Laboratory of Data techniques in meta-genomics,
Discovery for Health, a joint a process that simultaneously
project led by the University sequences the genetic material
of Hong Kong in collaboration of all organisms in a biological
with the University of Sydney, sample.

12 COMPANY NEWS

BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | www.biospectrumasia.com

J&J, NUH introduce Labcorp strengthens
first 3D-printing point-
of-care lab in Singapore bioanalytical services

The National University Hospital (NUH) has launched a in Asia Pacific
3D Printing Point-of-Care collaboration within Johnson
& Johnson (J&J) to improve patient care capability Labcorp, based in the US, has announced
and enhance personalised healthcare. This initiative is the expansion of its global offerings
supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board and its footprint in the Asia Pacific
(EDB) to accelerate healthcare innovation in Singapore. (APAC) region with the opening of a
The collaboration between NUH and J&J Singapore aims new, integrated bioanalytical laboratory
to push the boundaries of surgical 3D printing in Singapore, in Singapore. The laboratory features
elevate the standard of care for patients and deliver better new capabilities that enhance the
patient outcomes. The 3D Printing (3DP) Point of Care Lab substantial array of bioanalytical
is managed by J&J Singapore within the premises of NUH, services currently offered through
making it the first of its kind in Singapore. In this Point-of- Labcorp Drug Development, allowing
Care model, J&J’s biomedical engineers will work closely the company to meet increased demand
with NUH clinicians to design and produce personalised from pharmaceutical and biotechnology
anatomical models for preoperative planning and surgical companies. The integrated bioanalytical
simulation. The lab can currently produce patient-specific laboratory will be co-located with
anatomical models such as hips and knee joints, with plans Labcorp’s Central Laboratory Services
to produce other medical devices and instruments such and Clinical Development and
as surgical guides for complex surgery in the near future. Commercialisation Services segments,
Primed for the digital age, the lab will also explore mixed bolstering the company’s laboratory
reality (MR) technology to support the development of network in APAC. By expanding its
next-generation clinical applications and better improve bioanalytical capabilities in Singapore,
patient safety in surgery. Labcorp advances its regulated and non-
regulated services and further supports
the development of small and large
molecule studies. The new, integrated
laboratory will also offer Good Laboratory
Practice (GLP)- and Good Clinical Practice
(GCP)-compliant bioanalysis, liquid
chromatography-mass spectrometry and
immunochemistry platforms, as well as
clinical biomarker analytical services.

Cipla launches India’s first pneumotach-based wireless spirometer

Mumbai-based Cipla has This advanced device ensures high Filters. Spirofy is entirely wireless
announced the launch of Spirofy, result accuracy and individual with good battery backup, making
India’s first pneumotach-based patient safety using Bacterial Viral it suitable for use in outdoor
portable, wireless spirometer. With camps, remote areas with power
the launch, the company intends to shortages, or simply providing
revolutionise Obstructive Airway physicians’ flexibility and ease of
Disease (OAD) diagnosis, in line use. The device generates reports
with its ambition to strengthen its in real-time, which can be printed
position as the lung leader in India. using a portable wireless thermal
Cipla’s Spirofy is a result of five printer instantly, or a pdf version
years of in-house research by the can be shared on the phone. Cipla
Integrated Product Development will undertake the training of
(IPD) team, and it aims to physicians in the interpretation of
transform OAD diagnosis in India. spirometry results.

COMPANY NEWS 13

BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | www.biospectrumasia.com

Health2Sync launches latest
version of mobile app in Japan

Health2Sync has announced diabetes to view their diet, China’s I-Mab
the launch of a new version of weight, blood pressure, exercise,
its mobile app that integrates and other data along with CGM partners with
continuous glucose monitoring data in the Health2Sync app,
(CGM) data from Abbott’s enabling comprehensive health Roche for
FreeStyle Libre. This will be management for people with
the first of its kind in Japan to diabetes. In 2021, FreeStyle companion
integrate CGM data along with Libre Link was launched
other health data on a single as Japan’s first mobile app diagnostics
app. While it is important to self- to enable discrete diabetes
manage lifestyle habits such as management with smartphone solutions
diet in diabetes, there have been scanning. Currently, FreeStyle
few opportunities for patients to Libre is reimbursement for I-Mab, a clinical stage
collectively visualise and reflect patients currently on intensive biopharmaceutical company
on their daily diet, exercise, insulin therapy (IIT), or patients based in China, has entered
medication, etc. and blood who use premixed insulin into a strategic collaboration
glucose fluctuations, while in products more than twice a with Roche Diagnostics to co-
some cases it is difficult for them day after intensive insulin develop companion diagnostics
to do so. This data integration therapy, regardless of type 1 or 2 (CDx) solutions for I-Mab’s
will allow people living with diabetes. innovative pipeline. Companion
diagnostics have become an
Korea brings ‘donepezil important part of the innovative
patch’ for treating biologics R&D process. They
Alzheimer’s-type dementia are used to detect expression
levels of proteins and mutated
Icure Pharmaceutical Inc. has announced that its donepezil patch, genes, and to help identify
a treatment of Alzheimer’s-type dementia, received drug product the right candidates among
approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of Korea. The patients with different types
drug product approval process took seven months after it filed an of diseases. Using companion
application in April 2021. With the approval, Icure marks the first diagnostics can help innovative
commercialisation of the donepezil biotech companies improve
patch in the world. Donepezil is R&D efficiency, ensure the
a current typical treatment that effectiveness and safety of
has been widely prescribed for the drugs, and control R&D costs.
longest period for Alzheimer’s disease Under this collaboration, I-Mab
patients in severity ranging from and Roche Diagnostics will
mild to moderate and severe ones jointly develop companion
among FDA-approved Alzheimer’s diagnostics solutions for
treatments. Due to difficulty in the the innovative assets under
development of its formulations, development by I-Mab to
donepezil has been commercialised accelerate the research and
for only oral administration to date. With successful completion of a development process of
Phase III clinical trial for the first time in the world, the donepezil patch innovative biologics with
of Icure is expected to significantly improve the quality of life of patients cutting-edge diagnosis and
with Alzheimer’s-type dementia and their caregivers by enhancing the treatment technologies.
convenience in its use from orally taking once daily to putting a patch
on skin twice a week.

14 FINANCE NEWS

BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | www.biospectrumasia.com

Japan’s Yokogawa acquires Insilicoto
to build bioprocess solutions

Illumina Japan-based Yokogawa Electric of an intracellular metabolic
Corporation has acquired all network and a data-driven
invests $5M shares of Insilico Biotechnology model constructed from
AG, a Germany-based developer process data using the machine
into genomics and provider of bioprocess learning process. As well as
software and services. drastically accelerating what
lab in Australia Fostering the development of until now has been a multiple-
the bioeconomy is one of the year development process,
US-based Illumina, Inc. priority issues within Yokogawa’s prediction and simulation also
has announced the opening sustainability goals, and in line enable the acquisition of a deep
of a new, fully equipped with that the company aims understanding of the metabolism
laboratory, with an to leverage this acquisition to process. And given that this
investment of $5 million, to build total bioprocess solutions solution enables the construction
help Australian researchers that support biopharmaceutical of metabolism models for
and entrepreneurs make development through to bacteria and many other kinds
significant scientific manufacturing. Insilico’s of cellular organisms, it can
breakthroughs in areas digital twin technology uses an also be used in a wide variety
such as infectious disease, advanced hybrid model formed of applications related to foods,
oncology, genetic disease from a mechanistic model chemicals, and other products
and agriculture. Known as of the unique characteristics that utilise biotechnology.
the Illumina Innovation
Collective, the lab will make Holborn Wells, SpeedBio
available the latest in DNA India JV to invest $1M for
sequencing, array platforms IVD manufacturing
and data analysis tools,
all supported by specialist Holborn Wells, a UK-based healthcare company that recently established
scientific expertise to enable an in vitro diagnostic (IVD) business unit in India has concluded a joint
clinicians and researchers venture with New Delhi-based SpeedBio to establish an IVD manufacturing
to not only understand the unit in India. SpeedBio is one of the leading IVD promoters in the region
genome, but also fully tap with a team of former executives from leading diagnostics and healthcare
into its power. It is the first
genomics lab in Australia companies such as
where Illumina’s training Siemens and CORE
specialists, lab scientists, Diagnostics. The new
clinical liaison officers and venture is in line with
medical affairs teams are the Government’s
working shoulder to shoulder ‘Made in India’
with genomics leaders, initiative which will
healthcare professionals, see the nation emerge
and patient communities, to as a major player
fully realise the potential of in the provision of
genomics. quality IVD products
in a global supply
chain. Both parties are
expected to invest a total of $1 million over the coming months to establish
the Holborn SpeedBio brand as a leading IVD provider for the market.
The newly formed joint venture intends to launch and manufacture a
portfolio of over 150 IVD products to market within the next year.

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Ecosparks designs unique China’s Signet
LED disinfection solutions
Therapeutics raises
Singapore-based Ecosparks has designed a first-of-its-
kind LED UV-C Air Disinfection Solution capable of $10M in seed-2 round
killing the COVID-19 virus as well as airborne pathogens,
and is also uniquely developed to reduce one’s carbon Signet Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical
footprint. This solution provides a safe and effective way startup based in China and the US, has
to disinfect indoor air to create a cleaner and healthier completed seed-2 round of approximately
indoor space. Ecosparks is a startup that specialises in $10 million. The new round was led by
lighting solutions for various industries including the 5Y Capital (Morningside Venture), with
agriculture, infrastructure and manufacturing industries. participation from Yael Capital, Blue
A forerunner in the lighting industry, Ecosparks’ products Ocean Capital, and existing investors
are designed with an emphasis on energy-saving LED Tiantu Capital and Sky9 Capital. The new
technologies aimed at improving sustainable practices funding will advance Signet’s two first-
for lighting solutions and reducing the reliance on in-class oncology programmes toward
toxic chemicals. This latest disinfection solution by clinical trials. In addition, Signet plans to
Ecosparks is robust, hassle-free and easy to install and expand its platform of disease models to
use. More importantly, it also offers a safer alternative other cancer areas and empower target
to traditional mercury-based sanitisation lighting, which discovery and pharmacodynamics studies
tends to be large, bulky and breakable, therefore reducing at other pharmaceutical companies on a
the hazardous risk in public spaces. In comparison greater scale. Founded in 2020, Signet
to conventional UV-C disinfectants, this UV-C LED has raised a seed round of 60 million
disinfection solution has a longer lifespan of up to 20,000 in CNY (equivalent to approximately $10
hours, which reduces the frequency of replacements. million), totaling two rounds of around
$20 million within its first year. Signet
made the groundbreaking discovery of a
promising new target for diffusive gastric
cancer (DGC). It launched a drug discovery
programme with the leading AI drug
R&D company XtalPi and, in March 2021,
announced the identification of a pre-
clinical candidate in over six months.

S Korea’s Lunit gets US FDA nod for
AI-based chest X-ray triage solution

South Korea-based startup Lunit of pre-specified suspected immediately after the exam, to
has received US Food and Drug critical findings. According to have the findings notified to the
Administration (FDA) 510(k) the company, the product is physicians, thereby reducing the
clearance for its AI-powered designed to triage and prioritise time-to-diagnosis of urgent cases.
chest x-ray triaging solution, emergent cases such as pleural The FDA clearance can boost the
‘Lunit INSIGHT CXR Triage’. effusion and pneumothorax company’s plan to accelerate its
With this first FDA clearance, sales expansion in the US market.
the company is now able to As Lunit INSIGHT CXR Triage
commercially provide the AI is best applied with mobile-
solution to medical professional based x-ray devices that are often
and healthcare institutions in the used in urgent care settings, the
US. Lunit INSIGHT CXR Triage company can maximise current
is a computer-assisted triage and partnerships with global medical
notification software that analyses device companies like Philips, and
chest x-ray images for the presence Fujifilm.

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4baseCare strengthens Korea’s wearable
AI-driven personalised
cancer care in India heart monitoring

Bengaluru-based 4baseCare has announced a device enters into
collaboration with Cellworks Group, a US-based
company and world leader in personalised medicine in the British market
the key therapeutic areas of oncology and immunology.
As a part of this association, the organisations will Sky Labs, a South Korea-based healthcare startup,
further their capabilities in personalised cancer is fully advancing into the British medical device
care and treatment strategy based on advanced market based on ‘CART-I (Cardio Tracker),’ the
clinical insights through genomics-based molecular company’s wearable heart monitoring medical
profiling and biosimulation. The collaboration aims device. Sky Labs will officially sell CART-I, the
to deliver greater insights to the oncology fraternity, world’s first ring-type medical device to monitor
predict patient therapy responses and enable therapy heart signals, to consumers in England. CART-I
selection resulting in optimal treatment outcomes. earned CE-MDD medical device approval in
The comprehensive molecular insights of 4baseCare’s Europe, and therefore can be used for atrial
TarGT Absolute test will be further advanced through fibrillation monitoring and disease diagnoses in
Cellworks personalised cancer therapy predictions Europe. It uses an electrocardiogram (ECG) to
for front-line and refractory patients and will guide help collect more precise cardiac signals when
oncologists in India to select the optimal treatment the user feels abnormal symptoms and uses
strategy for each patient. In addition, knowing each the photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor for
patient’s response to therapies before treatment will continuous atrial fibrillation monitoring without
enable oncologists to personalise drug selection, avoid the user’s intervention. A user can simply wear
unnecessary treatments and improve patient outcomes. CART-I on his or her finger for automatic
measuring of atrial fibrillation and heart rate
24/7 without taking any separate action. The
heart can be monitored easily in daily life by
people who have suffered from atrial fibrillation
(AF) or have a family history of AF.

Singapore’s Doctor Anywhere acquires
Thailand’s biggest telemedicine platform

Singapore-based startup refills. Since the launch of DA in will unlock synergies between
Doctor Anywhere (DA) has 2017, it has been on the mission the two platforms, widen its
acquired Doctor Raksa, the to deliver seamless and quality network of medical professionals,
biggest telemedicine platform healthcare through technology and consolidate resources to
in Thailand, for an undisclosed and innovation. This acquisition provide more options and better
amount. Launched in 2016, services to its providers and
Doctor Raksa serves over a patients within the ecosystem.
million users with offerings DA’s combined expertise will
including online doctor and strengthen its infrastructure
pharmacist consultations, and tech capabilities to pave the
electronic medical summaries, way forward for a new future of
e-prescriptions and prescription telehealth in Thailand.

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UK puts £250M in technology US plans
to modernise diagnostics
$650M worth
The National Health Service computer systems in hospitals,
(NHS) in the UK will receive labs and GP surgeries. It means investment in
£248 million over the next year the nurses, doctors and other
to invest in technology that will clinicians caring for a patient rapid diagnostic
deliver more diagnostic tests, can access these results more
checks and scans to help provide quickly and easily, even if they testing
faster diagnosis of a health are working from different
condition, earlier treatment settings. The US Department of Health and
and reduce waiting lists. The Human Services (HHS) will invest
investment will reduce the $650 million from the American
administrative burden on NHS Rescue Plan to strengthen
staff so they can analyse more manufacturing capacity for
tests, checks and scans while quick, high-quality diagnostic
also reducing the turnaround testing through rapid point-of-
time from a patient taking a care molecular tests and increase
test to receiving a diagnosis Americans’ access to them. As
and then starting treatment. at-home testing increases, the
Diagnostics services across need for follow-up testing in
the NHS will be digitalised healthcare settings will likely
using the latest technology to grow. If someone buys an over-
improve the way tests, images the-counter rapid antigen test at
and results can be shared across their local pharmacy to take at
home and tests positive, they may
EY launches technology- seek out a healthcare provider
driven solution for who would conduct another test
life sciences industry to confirm that result. This new
investment will help ensure tests
EY has announced the launch of EY Smart Reviewer, a new like these are readily available
technology-driven solution for the life sciences industry. It leverages across the country and can
artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing to help provide results quickly. Hospitals,
accelerate and improve the process to review materials used to market urgent care centers, pharmacies
and other community healthcare
pharmaceutical and medical settings use rapid molecular tests
device products. The EY Smart to diagnose COVID-19, screen
Reviewer solution makes it patients before surgery without
possible for pharmaceutical unnecessary delays, identify
and medical technology people who may benefit from
companies to automate the COVID-19 therapies, and confirm
Medical, Legal, Regulatory at-home test results.
Review (MLR) process and
significantly shorten review
and approval timelines for
modular content, thus driving
faster speed to market for
essential medicines. It increases speed by eliminating key manual
tasks and automating the remaining tasks and it reduces costs by
freeing up high-value people to focus on higher value-adding omni-
channel activities, while lowering risk of regulatory fines.

18 WORLD NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | www.biospectrumasia.com

Argentina Africa releases guidelines
launches mobile for antibiotic treatment
app for control
of NCDs An interdisciplinary panel of infectious disease clinicians and
public health experts led by the Africa Centres for Disease Control
During the recent Federal and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the Center for Disease Dynamics,
Meeting of Referees of the Economics & Policy (CDDEP) have released a first edition of the
National Directorate for African Antibiotic Treatment Guidelines for Common Bacterial
Comprehensive Approach to Infections and Syndromes. Africa Union (AU) Member States
non-communicable diseases and public health stakeholders have identified the lack of locally
(NCDs), the Minister of Health developed clinical treatment guidelines that define when to treat
of Argentina presented the infections and what appropriate antimicrobial agents to use as a
application for mobile devices major barrier to providing quality healthcare and mitigating the
Salud-ENT, a tool that will allow emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Except for
teams access in a simple and selected diseases, such as HIV, TB, and Malaria, healthcare providers
dynamic way to clinical practice in Africa have traditionally had to use their individual judgment or
guides and other fundamental rely on guidelines developed outside of Africa to guide the treatment
contents for the prevention and of infectious diseases. The African Antibiotic Treatment Guidelines
control of NCDs, and information for Common Bacterial Infections and Syndromes aim to fill this
on their risk factors. It has gap by providing healthcare workers across the African continent
been developed by the National with expert recommendations for antimicrobial selection, dosage,
Ministry of Health, through and duration of treatment for common bacterial infections and
the National Directorate for syndromes among pediatric and adult patient populations.
Comprehensive Approach to
NCDs, in collaboration with African countries receive
the Pan American Health training opportunities in
Organisation (PAHO). It allows data science research
health teams to access clinical
practice guides and other Researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in
content on NCDs in a simple the US are leading a new collaborative effort to increase training
and dynamic way. The device, opportunities in data science research in five African countries.
available for Android and IOS, They will work with colleagues at Heidelberg University to help
provides content on hypertension, develop a training hub at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN),
diabetes, kidney and lung disease,
asthma and obesity, and includes South Africa, that will also
guidelines on healthy eating, serve researchers at
physical activity, control of partner institutions in
smoking and excessive alcohol Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania,
consumption, and road safety. and Uganda. The new
programme is one of
19 funded through a
$74.5 million awards
programme from the
National Institutes of
Health (NIH) to advance
data science research on
the continent. The research team leading the new programme aims
to develop a critical mass of health data science researchers in Africa
who can address policy-relevant questions in two key global health
research areas: health systems strengthening; and food systems,
climate change, and planetary health.

WHO NEWS 19

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WHO, Bayer renew collaboration
for elimination of NTDs

The World Health Organisation map 20301 during 2021–2026. WHO
(WHO) and the German The cumulative value of Bayer’s
multinational pharmaceutical support and assistance to WHO emphasises
and life sciences company, Bayer since 2002 is estimated to exceed
AG, have renewed a collaboration $40 million. Over the decades, on behavioural
that will expand treatment medicines donated by several
free of charge to hundreds of pharmaceutical companies have insights for
thousands of people against allowed WHO to expand its global
selected neglected tropical NTD control and elimination public health
diseases (NTDs). The five-year programmes. With the help of
agreement involves the donation health ministries and an array The European Commission’s
of quality-assured medicines for of partners, donated medicines Joint Research Centre
treatment of Chagas disease and have enabled over 500 million (JRC) and the World Health
human African trypanosomiasis fewer people from requiring Organisation (WHO) have
(sleeping sickness), estimated at $ treatment against NTDs than concluded a Collaborative
8 million. Bayer will also provide in 2010 and have resulted in 43 Research Arrangement
$8.2 million to support the cross- countries eliminating at least one that aims to mainstream
cutting activities of the NTDs road NTD. behavioural insights into
public health programmes
WHO COVID-19 Solidarity and policies worldwide.
Trial picks Taiwan’s Behavioural insights can
Medigen’s vaccine help improve understanding
on how and why people
Taiwan’s Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (MVC) vaccine candidate, behave in ways that affect
MVC-COV1901, has been recommended by an independent vaccine their health, and help
prioritisation advisory group to be included in the World Health design policies and services
Organisation (WHO) Solidarity Trial Vaccines (STv). Following the that address behavioural
review of around 20 candidate vaccines by factors for improved
the external advisory group, MVC’s vaccine physical and mental well-
was selected as one of two to be included being. The Commission,
in the global trial. The announcement by through the JRC, will assist
WHO, comes after the approval from WHO WHO in expanding its
Ethics Review Committee and relevant behavioural insights for
regulatory authorities and ethics committees health programme. Both
of Colombia, Mali and the Philippines organisations will agree on
granted approval for the study to progress. specific areas of focus, which
Each clinical site and respective national would include issues like
principal investigators and research teams non-communicable diseases,
have begun recruiting volunteers to join the antimicrobial resistance
trial. This is an international, randomised and the use of behavioural
clinical trial platform designed to rapidly insights to increase the
evaluate the efficacy and safety of promising capacity of the health
new candidate vaccines contributing to the workforce.
creation of a larger portfolio of vaccines needed to protect people from
COVID-19 around the world. MVC began developing its own vaccine in
February of 2020 for bringing forth a solution capable of helping in part
end the devastating pandemic.

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Despite advances in development of countermeasures such as diagnostics,
therapeutics and vaccines, world travel and increased global
interdependence have added layers of complexity to containing
infectious diseases. COVID-19, an
outcome of weaponisation by
genetic manipulation as part
of ‘gain of function’ research,
had brought the entire world
to its knees in less than six
months. Now, researchers and
policymakers are being more vigilant
towards surveillance and management of
emerging infectious disease threats, and revisit
global mechanisms for the control of pandemic disease. In
addition to other countries across the globe, 2021 saw many initiatives
taken by the APAC region to strengthen their capacities for effective preparedness and
for the prevention of new and existing infectious diseases.

Focusing on
VIGILANCE &
PREPAREDNESS
Infectious diseases have been increasing in
frequency during the past few decades. These attack using the smallpox virus.
include recurring outbreaks caused by influenza The unprecedented scale and rapidity of
and Ebola viruses; diseases that have dramatically
increased their range and impact such as Chikungunya dissemination of recent emerging infectious diseases
and Zika viruses; and outbreaks caused by novel pose new challenges for vaccine developers, regulators,
pathogens such as severe acute respiratory syndrome health authorities and political constituencies.
coronavirus-1 (SARS-CoV-1) in 2002 and SARS-CoV-2
in 2019–20, the virus responsible for the current While vaccine manufacturing and distribution
COVID-19 pandemic. are complex and challenging, access to vaccines and
vaccination needs to be prioritised in low- and middle-
A section of experts attribute this to unlawful income countries. In addition, pharmacovigilance of
and potentially dangerous ‘gain of function’ research vaccine safety and surveillance of virus variants are
which, among other reasons, looks to ‘weaponise’ also critical. The combination of these factors weigh
the naturally occurring viruses. More recently, heavily on the ultimate success of efforts to bring the
Bill Gates announced the successful development current and any future emerging infectious disease
of a vaccine against smallpox (a disease already pandemics to a close.
eradicated) in the (un)likely event of a bioterror
As a result, we saw many countries within the
Asia Pacific (APAC) region taking new initiatives
throughout 2021, across the diagnostic, medtech,

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pharma, services, supplier and digital healthcare Foundation are implementing the ‘Nippon
space, in order to prepare themselves better for a Foundation- Osaka University Infectious Disease
future crisis. Prevention Project’ over the course of the next 10
years. The Nippon Foundation will provide 23 billion
For instance, $650 million has been invested yen to Osaka University in support for this project,
for the development of a new Australian Institute of which also includes funding for strengthening the
Infectious Disease in Victoria to lead the fight against function of the Center for Infectious Disease Education
future pandemics and other infectious diseases. The and Research (CiDER), which was established at the
institute is said to be the largest centre of expertise university in April 2021.
in the Southern Hemisphere region. Additionally,
a robotic biobank facility is being built to ensure Alongside, the government is building an infectious
international best practice for specimen storage in diseases databank with a plan to collect data on 10,000
large-scale clinical trials. COVID-19 patients to help firms and universities
develop effective treatments.
Also, in the next three years, the Australian
government will be investing more than $14.2 million Joining this list of initiatives is a 40-year old South
in surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) Korea-based pharmaceutical firm Hanmi Science
in human health in Australia, to ensure detection that has entered a pandemic science alliance with the
of emerging threats from AMR microbes, mainly University of Oxford in the UK to conduct research to
bacteria, as early as possible. prevent new & mutated infectious diseases. Further,
the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) & the Institut
Likewise, the government of New Zealand has Pasteur Korea (IPK) have signed a memorandum of
announced $36 million in funding over three years understanding (MOU) for mutual collaboration in
to kickstart a new programme of infectious disease the research and development of therapeutics and
research & capability building, to focus on prevention, vaccines for infectious diseases. IVI has also joined
control and management of infectious diseases. hands with the Future Investment Initiative Institute
(FII-I) in Saudi Arabia to increase awareness and
Further, a five-year research programme has muster support to tackle infectious diseases.
been announced by the University of Otago that
focuses on finding ways of reducing the burden of A major consortium of 27 organisations has been
infectious diseases, long-term conditions, and poverty launched by the Indian government, called One
in New Zealand. University of Otago’s Global Health Health, for carrying out surveillance of important
Institute is also supporting the establishment of a bacterial, viral and parasitic infections of zoonotic as
new Communicable Diseases Research Centre at Fiji well as transboundary pathogens in India, including
National University (FNU). the north-eastern part of the country. India has also
recently launched an innovation hub, a unique global
In Japan, Osaka University and The Nippon multi-stakeholder platform, to combat the emerging
silent pandemic- antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Not to miss out the recent decision taken by the
National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) in
Singapore to launch a gallery for educating the public
on how to protect themselves, in order to reduce the
transmission of infectious diseases.

Multiple steps are being executed by experts
across the APAC region after taking lessons from
COVID-19. The permanent threat of emerging
pathogens has indeed called for vigilance, surveillance
and preparedness for epidemiologists, scientists,
developers, human and veterinary health authorities,
regulators and other stakeholders.

As 2021 comes to an end, let’s take a look at the key
developments across the diagnostic, medtech, pharma,
services, suppliers and digital healthcare space in the
APAC region.

Dr Manbeena Chawla
[email protected]
(with inputs from Hithaishi C Bhaskar)

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PHARMA/BIOPHARMA

The pandemic has triggered the pharmaceutical companies to pursue multiple dimensions through innovative
novel products, categories, or markets particularly in the drugs and vaccines space.

‘Our Thailand team quickly embarked “First global regulatory approval
on digital transformation journey’ for prostate cancer imaging”

“In the first half of our fiscal “2021 has been one of the most
year (April-September), we significant in Telix’s six-year
expanded sustainable access to history, culminating in a first
our innovative treatment regulatory approval for our lead
portfolio, and saw a 20 per cent prostate cancer imaging agent
increase in patients enrolled in Illuccix (TLX591-CDx) from the
our Innovative Access Schemes. Australian Therapeutic Goods
We have accelerated the Administration (TGA) and a United
expansion of our global growth brands by 30 per States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decision
cent and are on-track to meet our financial date set for December 23, 2021. PSMA-PET imaging is
commitments for the year. Our Thailand team was one of the most important developments in prostate
quick to embark on a data and digital transformation cancer management in recent years and the approval
journey, driving a three-fold increase in the number of Illuccix in the US will transform patient access, as
of digital calls and the delivery of timely medical our generator produced gallium allows for enhanced
information to HCPs in just one month. In Taiwan, we access and scheduling flexibility. On the therapy side,
launched MediPASS, a one-stop digital tool to we initiated our ProstACT programme, a group of trials
support Fabry and Gaucher disease patients to investigating TLX591 in prostate cancer, which includes
access educational materials, social welfare a global Phase III study. Our second investigational
resources and allow HCPs to follow-up with their imaging product for kidney cancer, specifically for the
patients.” detection of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC),
TLX250-CDx, also progressed significantly during 2021,
- THOMAS WILLEMSEN with the Phase III ZIRCON trial now approaching target
enrolment. We also commenced a Phase II study of our
Senior Vice President, investigational kidney cancer therapy TLX250 in
combination with immunotherapy.”
Takeda Pharmaceuticals, APAC, Singapore
- DR CHRISTIAN BEHRENBRUCH
‘Made significant progress on
pharmaceutical development programme’ CEO and Managing Director,

“We started 2021 on a strong note Telix pharmaceuticals, Australia
as we enrolled our first patient in
a phase 2 pilot clinical trial of our ‘Greater focus has been on sharing
lead investigational compound updates of CoronaVac safety’
tricaprilin for migraine prevention
in November 2020 in Australia. “To date, we have supplied more
The study is on track to readout in than 2 billion doses of CoronaVac
Q2 2022. We recently announced to over 50 countries through the
the enrollment of our first patient in a pilot clinical trial China AID, the COVAX facility,
of tricaprilin in infantile spasms in Australia, and will be bilateral agreements, as well as
expanding our study to Singapore. We have made through vaccine donations. Given
significant progress on our pharmaceutical the spotlight on vaccines in 2021,
development programme. This year we established we have put a greater focus on
partnerships with Monash University’s lipid drug ongoing education around the mechanism of action,
development groups and others. We are ending the efficacy and safety of CoronaVac, sharing the latest
year on a high note as we closed a $40 million updates and encouraging results from our clinical trial
fundraise in an oversubscribed financing round.” programme and real-world data.”

- CHARLES STACEY - HELEN YANG

President & Chief Executive Officer, Cerecin, Singapore Chief Business Officer, Sinovac, China

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“Proud to deliver first protein-based COVID-19 ‘Made substantial progress in
vaccine to the Philippines, Indonesia” advancing core technologies’

“Serum Institute has partnered “Immunwork has undergone a
with the Confederation of Indian corporate structure
Industry to work with industry reorganisation, & is now a fully
members in reaching out the owned subsidiary of T-E Pharma
vaccine to communities in the Holding (TEPH), in Cayman Island.
hinterland. Also, the approval of TEPH completed a round A
COVOVAX in the Philippines and financing raising $23 million in
Indonesia is another step forward April 2021. We have made
in the global fight against the coronavirus. We are substantial progress in advancing our core technologies,
proud to deliver the first protein-based COVID-19 namely, the ‘T-E drug-design’ and ‘drug bundles’
vaccine to the Philippines and Indonesia.” platforms, which are based on our multi-arm linkers
invention. We have further established in 2021 that
- ADAR POONAWALLA TE-8105, an ultra-long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonist,
will belong to a new Q2W class, allowing one insulin
Chief Executive Officer, Serum Institute of India, India injection every two weeks.”

‘Conducted Ph II trial for oral COVID-19 pill’ - DR TSE-WEN CHANG

“We conducted a phase II clinical Chief Executive Officer, Immunwork, Taiwan
trial with USFDA on COVID-19
which will make it a treatable ‘COVAXIN authorised for
disease with oral pills, Emergency Use by the WHO’
Antroquinonol (HOCENA). Second,
we entered a partnership “Validation by the World Health
agreement with Asian, North Organisation (WHO) is a very
American, & European pharmal significant step towards ensuring
partners to bring a sizable amount of quality HOCENA global access to India’s widely
after regulatory authorisation approval in fighting this administered, safe, and
pandemic as a team together. Another proud efficacious COVAXIN. As an
performance for us is the completion of the clinical phase organisation, we have focused on
II trial to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treatment.” maintaining stringent quality and
safety standards that meet rigorous assessment, and
- ALEX LIU scientific standards established by WHO, as a result,
many of our vaccines have received WHO
Chairman, Golden Biotechnology Corp., Taiwan prequalification. The EUL authorisation for COVAXIN
will enable us to contribute to accelerating the
‘Developed solution for equitable access of COVID-19 vaccine, and the access
atrial fibrillation treatment’ to our vaccine globally thereby addressing the current
public health emergency.”
“Our TAH6601 4-day patch has
proven its targeted profile in - DR KRISHNA ELLA
preclinical studies for Lennox-
Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) early this Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech, India
year, and our TAH2211, an oral film
for the treatment of opioid
dependence, currently is in clinical
study. Most of all, we developed a
prototype of our lead product (TAH3311), which recently
completed the phase 1 trial. It is potentially the first oral
film for anticoagulant products for the atrial fibrillation
treatment. We received written feedback from the FDA
following our pre-IND meeting request and plan for our
pivotal study in 2022.”

- CATHERINE LEE

Chief Scientific Officer, TAHO Pharmaceuticals, Taiwan

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‘Made breakthroughs in ‘Expanded into infectious disease segment’
detecting circulating tumor cells’
“A key highlight has been the
“In 2021, we have had several USFDA approval of our
breakthroughs in detecting bGlargine as the world’s first
circulating tumor cells (CTCs) interchangeable biosimilar
from liquid biopsy, paving the way for a robust
immunotherapies against growth of this product. We
multiple cancers, and stem cell also took a strategic decision
therapies for osteoarthritis. We to leverage our biologics
have promoted three clinical trials capabilities to make a meaningful impact in
for the development of novel adoptive cell therapies in infectious diseases. We partnered with Adagio
Taiwan, which are combination therapy of immune Therapeutics for a novel antibody for treatment
checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) with a particular immune and prevention of COVID-19. Thereafter, we
cell PHYDUXON, next generation TCR gamma/delta T entered into a strategic alliance with Serum
cell therapy with enhanced immune response and Institute Life Sciences which gives us access to a
specificity to bone metastasis, and EBaT8 immune cell 100 million doses vaccine capacity (with assured
therapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma treatment.” revenues and related margins) and their portfolio
of vaccines.
- JAN-MOU LEE
- DR ARUN CHANDAVARKAR
General Manager, FullHope Biomedical, Taiwan
Managing Director, Biocon Biologics, India
‘Saw meaningful progression in
multiple other therapeutic areas’ ‘Seeing rapid growth in China’

“Pfizer expects to manufacture 3 “Our acquisition of the Cialis
billion doses of the Pfizer- brand (for erectile
BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine dysfunction), including its
worldwide by the end of 2021 and sales, marketing and
4 billion doses in 2022. Beyond distribution rights, has
our COVID-19 efforts, Pfizer’s propelled Menarini Asia-
pipeline and portfolios saw Pacific to one of China’s top
meaningful progression in three men’s health players.
multiple other therapeutic areas. We are advancing Besides this landmark acquisition, we are seeing
new mechanisms and technologies such as gene rapid growth in China. Our revenues have doubled
therapy and RNA platforms. Pfizer is also leveraging from 2019. This year, we also successfully
digital technologies including analytics, machine managed the integration of Crestor (for
learning, artificial intelligence and engagement tools cardiovascular diseases) in Australia and New
that enable better patient outcomes as well as Zealand. Our Menarini Indria Lab (MILab)
capabilities that speed up drug discovery and manufacturing plant recently inked a project
development.” agreement with a global pharmaceutical brand to
enable the import, storage and distribution of
- PIERRE GAUDREAULT their entire Indonesian portfolio, by expanding
MILab’s cold storage facilities. In October, our
Regional President, Emerging Asia, Advanced Diagnostics arm, A. Menarini
Biomarkers Singapore Pte Ltd (MBS), signed a
Pfizer Biopharma Group, Singapore memorandum of understanding with the
SingHealth Duke-NUS Maternal and Child Health
Research Institute (MCHRI) to develop the first
non-European based international medical hub
for non-invasive diagnostics in prenatal and
targeted therapies for better clinical outcomes.”

- MAURIZIO LUONGO

Chief Executive Officer,

Menarini Asia-Pacific, Singapore

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DIGITAL HEALTHCARE

Healthcare systems across the APAC region are highly fragmented, and the level of digital health adoption and
maturity varies from country to country. 2021 witnessed many companies striking a balance between immediate
priorities and investments for a digital future since digital health innovation is no longer an option, but a necessity
for health systems if we aspire to emerge stronger from the pandemic.

‘Acquired Thailand’s telehealth ‘Integrated CGM data along with
brand Doctor Raksa’ other health data on a single app’

“Doctor Raksa is a well- “Health2Sync has launched a new
established telehealth brand in version of its mobile app that
Thailand, with more than 1 integrates continuous glucose
million users and thousands of monitoring (CGM) data from
doctors across diversified Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre. This will
specialisations. Our acquisition be the first of its kind in Japan to
of Doctor Raksa in 2021 will integrate CGM data along with
deepen Doctor Anywhere’s other health data on a single app.
presence in Thailand, and lead us to be the largest This data integration will allow people living with diabetes
telehealth platform in Thailand. This acquisition will to view their diet, weight, blood pressure, exercise, &
unlock synergies between the two platforms, widen other data along with CGM data in the Health2Sync app,
our network of medical professionals, and consolidate enabling comprehensive health management for people
our resources to provide more options and better with diabetes. This partnership with Abbott reiterates our
services to our providers and patients within the mission to deliver holistic & real-time diabetes
ecosystem. Our combined expertise will strengthen management experiences to patients.”
our infrastructure and tech capabilities to pave the
way forward for a new future of telehealth in - ED DENG
Thailand.”
Co-Founder and CEO, Health2Sync, Taiwan
- LIM WAI MUN
‘Tapping new opportunities for
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, healthcare improvements’

Doctor Anywhere, Singapore “We have tapped into new
opportunities to collaborate with
‘Raised $48M in Series C to build industry players and propel
India’s largest virtual hospital’ healthcare improvements, both
globally and in Asia Pacific. For
“In the healthcare sector the instance, we announced a
world has changed to a new strategic partnership with
normal and we are seeing a steep Smarter Health, a Singapore-
growth in the adoption of digital based healthcare technology company that operates a
health in India too. In early 2021, platform to provide seamless data integration between
we launched an app-based SPO2 payors and providers in the Southeast Asia region. This
(blood oxygen saturation) partnership seeks to improve transparency across
monitoring tool which enables stakeholders in the payor market, with the goal of
users to keep track of their oxygen saturation levels making healthcare more accessible, affordable, and
without needing an additional device. Since then, accountable. We also recently entered into a new
250,000 users have used the tool and thousands of agreement with patient engagement SaaS technology
people continue to use it daily. We have recently raised provider, Twistle, to bring an automated “patients first”
$48 million in Series C to build India’s largest virtual communication tool to the region. With this, we hope
hospital. We will continue to invest in deep tech to to assuage the region’s population’s health challenges
transform every smartphone into a health companion and transform the patient experience.”
for consumers and a decision support assistant to all
doctors.” - LARRY LOFGREEN

- PRASAD KOMPALLI Vice President, Asia Pacific Sales and

Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder, MFine, India Solutions Consulting, Health Catalyst, Singapore

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BIOSUPPLIERS

Amidst the chaos created by the pandemic globally, the biosuppliers sector stayed focused on developing and
delivering the required consumables, reagents, equipment etc. in this fight against COVID-19 throughout 2021.

‘Transported COVID-19 vaccines to more ‘Made a number of acquisitions
than 50 countries & territories worldwide’ in life sciences and diagnostics’

“Over the past year and a half, “In addition to outperforming
we have successfully moved revenue growth over last year, we
nearly 14,000 COVID-19 made a number of acquisitions in
humanitarian aid shipments. We life sciences and diagnostics as
have shipped more than 2.5 well as R&D investments in the
billion masks and approximately food and applied markets
110 kilotonnes of PPE and other accelerated innovation across the
healthcare supplies worldwide, board. In the field of SARS-CoV-2
including more than 37 kilotonnes shipped in the Asia diagnostics, our PCR test kits continue to serve
Pacific, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) region. We customers around the globe, and our state-of-the-art
continue to work closely with healthcare customers automation solutions benefit a wide range of
and government officials to deliver the COVID-19 customers across industries, including the Tokyo
vaccines as they are made available. We’ve now Olympic Games this year. The pace of regulatory
transported these vaccines to more than 50 countries changes, cross-border transactions and restrictions on
and territories worldwide, including recent shipments people mobility have accelerated PerkinElmer’s efforts
to South Korea and Vietnam. We were recently on digitisation internally and externally with customers
named Asia’s Best Third Party Logistics Provider for and partners. For example, our 3D laboratory, virtual
Vaccines by IMAPAC in recognition of our team and demonstrations, enhancement of the PerkinElmer
our capabilities in protecting shipment integrity and e-commerce platform, and many other current actions
keeping vaccines moving across the globe. We’ve across commercial departments will continuously help
been applying our SenseAware monitoring PerkinElmer turn challenges into new opportunities.”
technology as part of our Priority Alert service to track
vaccine shipments as they move through our - KYON SOONPIL
network.”
Vice President and General Manager,
- KAWAL PREET
PerkinElmer, KOSEA+J (Korea, Oceania,
President, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and
South East Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan+Japan)
Africa (AMEA), FedEx Express, Hong Kong SAR
‘Successful in our nucleic acid
automation, COVID-19 antigen tests’

“We feel very successful in 2021,
especially in our nucleic acid
automation, COVID-19 antigen
tests, self-owned product sales,
cell therapy, & tumor
microenvironment clinical
research sales growth. COVID-19
brings the whole sales & research
& development as well as shipping environment a great
change. Thus, our company makes key adjustments to
overcome difficulties, which is why we have something
that cannot rely on foreign countries. We need to pay
special attention to the independent development of
Taiwan manufacturing, from the original import from
abroad to export to Southeast Asian countries.”

- PASTEUR K. TAI

President, Cold Spring Biotech Corp., Taiwan

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‘Provided manufacturing license for ‘Brought two new products to market’
antimicrobial coating technology’
“ In 2021 we brought two new
“ASN Technologies provided products to market. In May we
its manufacturing licence launched Releye RLP, setting a
for ASN GUARD new standard for temperature-
antimicrobial coating controlled air cargo containers. It
technology to be can maintain internal
manufactured by MaTerra temperature for up to a week
Solutions. These products with one charge. In November,
today are being used by the we launched CryoSure, which allows cryogenic
Singapore government to help control the spread shipments at -70°C for a period of up to three weeks.
of COVID-19. ASN Technologies was used to It’s a game changer and is going to revolutionise this
provide anti-microbial coating sprayed on gallery part of the market. We’re shipping around two million
seats and other areas to prevent COVID-19 spread doses of medicines per day for all major
at the Singapore National Day Parade 2021. We pharmaceutical manufacturers, covering more than
adapted and found ways to work closely with the 2,000 pharma trade lanes in over 100 countries and
government as per the new normal. Keeping the 300 airports.”
core ethos of our company, we also made
decision in the month of October 2021 when the - PETER GISEL-EKDAHL
COVID cases spiked to stopped sales of their
antimicrobial hand coating and divert all available Chief Executive Officer, Envirotainer, Sweden
stocks as free distribution to frontline workers.”
‘Developed and commercialised
- NITIN SARUP CHOWDHARY several kits for COVID-19 testing’

ASN Technologies (Founder); “In the areas of diagnosis and
surveillance studies for COVID-19,
MaTerra Solutions (JV Partner), Singapore we developed and
commercialised several kits such
‘Efforts were recognised through as HiPurA Viral RNA Purification
conferment of several awards’ Kit, Hi-PCR Coronavirus
(COVID-19) Multiplex Probe PCR
“Led by the biologics market Kit, PCR media for virus lysis and
unit, we achieved robust direct PCR etc. The cell culture business at HiMedia
growth in all three product launched its latest venture of the development of
markets. Globally, we media for manufacturing biosimilars and viral vaccines.
recorded 28.9 per cent net We have also set up a world-class upstream media
sales growth in Q3 2021. In development and bioprocess optimisation lab as the
APAC, this figure, driven by biosimilars sector is set to boom at a CAGR of 30-35
the continued growing per cent.”
demand for high value product (HVP) offerings such
as NovaPure Components and Flurotec Barrier Film, - DR GIRISH B. MAHAJAN
COVID-19 related needs, and an expanding base
business, is even higher. We committed to a capital Senior Vice President, HiMedia Laboratories, India
spend of more than $265 million till date and hired
over 1,000 new team members. Our efforts were
recognised by our colleagues through the
conferment of several awards across the region.
We were recognised as the Best Bioprocessing
Supplier Award in Korea, the Top Innovator for
Biologics Packaging in India and National
Pharmaceutical Packaging Association for scientific
thought leadership in China.”

- STEWART CAMPBELL

Vice-President and General Manager, Asia Pacific,

West Pharmaceutical Services, Singapore

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MEDTECH/ DIAGNOSTICS

COVID-19 has ushered in a tremendous increase in awareness about health and wellness along with underlining the
utility of home-use diagnostics tests and newer medical technologies.

‘Saw very strong demand for Versius’ countries. We have also enriched our online training
platform for healthcare providers which has helped us
“In 2021, CMR has performed expand our outreach to doctors in remote areas and
exceptionally well. The company increase education opportunities for endoscopists.”
has celebrated a number of key
milestones, including our record- - YASUO TAKEUCHI
breaking $600 million Series D
raise, a number of advanced and President and CEO, Olympus Corporation, Japan
large market launches of surgical
robotic system Versius including ‘Acquired Hitachi’s diagnostic imaging business’
Germany and Australia, new regulatory approvals in
high growth markets such as Brazil, the strengthening “In addition to supplying antibody
of our leadership team and the expansion of our test kits that can detect even
manufacturing output, with plans to build a new global small amounts of virus, ultrasound
manufacturing facility to meet the growing global systems for diagnosing
demand for Versius. We are on track to meet our pneumonia, and mobile X-ray
commercial targets and have grown our commercial diagnostic equipment, we are also
presence to more than 20 countries globally.” providing contract manufacturing
of vaccines and advancing the
- PER VEGARD NERSETH development and manufacturing of Avigan Tablets as a
therapeutic drug candidate. In spring 2021, we
Chief Executive Officer, CMR Surgical, UK welcomed Hitachi’s diagnostic imaging-related medical
business to the Fujifilm Group. This addition allows us to
‘New hires increased by 30 per cent’ provide even more tools to support physicians and
clinicians in diagnosis and treatment with expanded
“Our products are used in research offerings including CTs, MRIs, and other devices, and
& clinical laboratories around the leveraging Fujifilm’s cutting-edge image processing
world, contributing to COVID-19 technology with AI/IT to improve clinical outcomes.”
quality screening assay and
antibody tests. Our 2021 Q1 to Q3 - TEIICHI GOTO
revenues increased nearly 35 per
cent from 2020 Q1 to Q3. Our new President and CEO, Representative Director, Fujifilm, Japan
hires increased 30 per cent and
nearly all the manufacturing spaces were fully utilised.” ‘Launched India’s first high sensitivity Hep C kit’

- FRANK LIN “Transasia further strengthened
its COVID-19 testing portfolio by
President, General Biologicals Corporation, Taiwan launching ErbaMDx COVID-19
RT- PCR kit with five times
‘Increased edu opportunities for endoscopists’ greater sensitivity to detect even
low viral load. Besides this, we
“The pandemic has accelerated recently introduced ErbaLisa HCV
and advanced our initiatives to Gen 4 Ag+Ab, India’s first and only
globalise our workforce and indigenously developed 4th generation ELISA assay for
reinforce digital customer detection of Hepatitis C Virus. It is intended for early
communication and support. detection of Hepatitis C infection. We also introduced
Soon after the pandemic started the ErbaQik rapid test kit for four critical infections
to prevent face-to-face business namely HIV, HBsAg, HCV and Syphilis. These kits
communications, Olympus provide results in 20 minutes and have been approved
introduced IT environments to enable most of our by National Institute of Biologicals (NIB), Pune.”
employees to work from home. Thanks to the great
efforts and flexibility of our IT team, we dramatically - SURESH VAZIRANI
improved our meeting and decision-making processes
and accelerated employees’ collaboration across Founder Chairman, Erba Transasia Group, India

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BIOSERVICES

R&D outsourcing has become a ‘must have’ than ‘good-to have’ strategy over the past few years. More and more
companies have understood the importance of working with contract research and manufacturing organisations to
advance their R&D programmes, particularly in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccine scenario.

‘Launched IQVIA Biotech in JAPAC’ ambitions. There has never been more disruption in the
biopharma industry and 2021 is just the beginning of an
“Clinical trial sites set up by exciting period of growth as we see new, advanced
biotech and biopharma therapies coming to the market, new innovations, and
companies in JAPAC have greater emphasis on public health. Our efforts this year
increased by over 40 per cent in laying the foundation for the future will only catapult
each year on average, compared us to greater heights in years to come.”
to just 11 per cent across the rest
of the world. There are a lot of - RAJAN SANKARAN
biotech companies coming to
JAPAC to run their clinical programmes and wanting to General Manager, ASEAN, Cytiva, Singapore
launch their drugs in the region given the attractive
market dynamics. Given the rise of the region and the “Maintained stable supply chain”
globalisation of drug development, especially around
emerging biopharma, it was a good time to launch “Owing to our robust Supplier
IQVIA Biotech in JAPAC.” Management Strategy
implemented a few years ago as
- DR SENTHIL SOCKALINGAM follows, we are able to maintain a
stable supply chain without any
Head of IQVIA Biotech (Asia Pacific), Singapore shortage. We have achieved close
to double-digit revenue growth
‘Inked more than $50.7 M service contracts’ under severe global COVID-19
pandemic challenges. Within 2021, we have also
“In 2021 we successfully completed installation and qualification of 3 injectable
completed a second round SPO production lines for both cytotoxic and non-cytotoxic
and a private placement and drug products, and started offering pilot/clinical stage
raised $295 million. Our CDMO to full commercial scale (more than 100 million doses
business in 2021 ( Jan to October) per production line) manufacturing service.”
revenue reached $32.2 million,
and we have inked more than - DR CHIH-PING YANG
$50.7 million service contracts. In
March, we announced that global phase 3 clinical trial Chief Executive Officer, Formosa Laboratories Inc., Taiwan
results of our most advanced biosimilar product
EG12014 has demonstrated the equivalent clinical ‘Completed new microbial facility’
efficacy and comparable safety profile compared to
Roche’s Herceptin.” “We have made investments in
both mammalian and microbial
- LEE-CHENG LIU manufacturing. On the
mammalian side, we have added
President and Chief Executive Officer, EirGenix, Taiwan additional 2000L single use
bioreactors to further enhance
‘Invested to expand manufacturing capabilities’ capacity to serve the needs of
molecules such as monoclonal
“We have developed antibodies. Recently, we also announced the
collaborations with governments completion of our new 500 L microbial facility which
around the region, such as India further enhances our suite of offerings. Along with
and Korea, to strengthen local being a multiproduct facility, it is also suitable for
biopharma ecosystem; invested manufacturing mRNA vaccines by producing the
heavily and decisively to expand plasmid DNA and the mRNA material.’’
our manufacturing capabilities to
ensure minimal supply chain - MAHESH BHALGAT
disruption such as Wego; launched a new training lab in
Singapore to support the country’s Industry 4.0 Chief Operating Officer, Syngene International, India

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‘Within APAC, Industry 4.0 continues ‘Implementing several
to drive our performance for FY22’ cross-border healthcare initiatives’

“While many of our “The year 2021 remarks the 9th
manufacturing and engineering anniversary of Hong Kong
customers in Asia were hard hit University-Shenzhen Hospital
by the pandemic, we adopted (HKU-SZ Hospital), while being
technologies to navigate through recognised as one of the 12
the new normal using Industry high-quality development public
4.0 as a solution. To drive hospitals in Mainland China. We
business continuity we ensured have implemented several
accessibility to the tools and resources together with cross-border healthcare initiatives. As the first and
technical, and logistic expertise upgraded by digital only pilot institution, we have successfully
transformation. Despite the pandemic, we saw 33% implemented 11 new drugs and 3 medical devices in
revenue growth in 2021. We are in the second year of the Hospital. Supported by the Shenzhen Health
our ‘Destination 2025 strategy’, which brought us a Commission, we have also established Shenzhen
step closer to reaching our sustainability, efficiency, Hospital Accreditation Research Center & developed
and scalability goals. We also protected employee the first edition of International Accreditation
wellbeing and mental health, by launching a Standard for Hospital Quality, which has now been
wellbeing portal, “Keep Connected”, while our accepted by ISQua”.
employee assistance programme provided access to
finance and career counseling from experts for - PROF. CHUNG-MAU LO
employees juggling with remote working”.
Hospital Chief Executive, The University of
- SYED SUROOR ANWAR
Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, China
Vice President (APAC), Strategy and Commercial, RS
‘Deployed advanced complex medicine
Components, Hong Kong SAR and innovative biotherapeutics platforms’

‘Promoting collaboration to “Aiming at the development of
boost Taiwan’s biomedical industry’ safer and more effective
biotherapeutics, Development
“With support from industry, Center for Biotechnology (DCB)
academia, and government explored innovative technological
sectors, we had a quite platforms for Best-in-Class drug
extraordinary year in 2021. For products, including (i) The site-
promoting international specific antibody-drug conjugate
collaboration, the BIO Asia- (ADC) platform developed by DCB for increased efficacy
Taiwan 2021 International and lower adverse effects; (ii) The Globo H-directed well
Conference and Exhibition has therapy using a novel CAR-T therapy coupled with
been a successful event which attracted more than immune checkpoint inhibitor PD-L1 antibodies
1,500 professional attendees and more than 50,000 demonstrated a 60 per cent effectiveness on solid
visitations from 45 countries for the online events, tumor inhibition. In addition, allogenic induced
while the onsite exhibition with 650 companies pluripotent stem cells (iPSc) has also been generated.
participated has attracted more 100,000 visitations. (III) The high yield CHO-C cell production system for
On the other hand, for cultivating biomedical talents, biotherapeutic proteins was established & well
our Biotech Industrial Academy has offered more recognised by an award from the 1st Taiwan Research-
than three hundred training hours for about four Institute Entrepreneur Ecosystem Programme (TREE); &
hundred biomedical professionals. We will further (iv) The specific FLT3 inhibitor for acute myeloid
cope with the new norm facilitating the development leukemia (AML) patients drawn international attentions
for the biomedical industry, as we continue to and showing promise in the AML market. Moreover,
collaborate with our stakeholders and partners locally PROTAC platform and leads for Ras-PROTAC have also
& globally”. shown great & promising results”.

- CHUNG HSIUN WU - DR TSAI-KUN LI

Chairman, Taiwan Bio Industry Organization Vice President, Development Center for

(Taiwan BIO), Taiwan Biotechnology, Taiwan

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Reality of Universal
Cancer Prevention & Cure

Oncology is the largest pharmaceutical therapeutic area, and big pharma is investing billions of
dollars in search of the elusive cancer cure. With all this investment and innovation, will we ever see
a universal cancer cure? Let’s find out.

Oncology treatment has come a long way since approvals for liquid biopsy NGS (next generation
the advent of chemotherapy in the 1940s. sequencing) companion diagnostic tests for multiple
There have been tremendous advancements cancers and biomarkers.
in the field of oncology, especially over the last two
decades, resulting in improved quality of life and These new tests are US’ Guardant Health’s
survival rates. There are more than 1,300 medicines Guardant 360 CDx assay, and FoundationOne Liquid
and vaccines in development to tackle cancer, as of CDx, marketed by Foundation Medicine, USA.
January 2021 (source: PhRMA). Many innovative
therapies have been launched and pharmaceutical It is worth noting that these are the tests for people
companies continue to invest significantly in oncology already screened for cancer and aren’t yet officially
research to advance the cancer treatment market. approved for first in line cancer screening.

“Cancer has undergone huge changes in the last US-based companies such as Thrive, Grail
five years as new treatments that harness the immune and Singlera Genomics are actively pursuing this
system to restore the balance between cancer cells technology for cancer screening.
and healthy cells have been extensively evaluated.
Drugs like PD-1/L1 inhibitors have revolutionised the “Liquid biopsy is becoming more sensitive &
treatment of late-stage melanoma, lung cancer and specific. I think in the not too distant future we will be
renal cancer, dramatically improving five-year survival able to detect many of the currently deadly cancers,
rates,” said Daniel Chancellor, Thought Leadership such as pancreatic, ovarian, brain, etc. at a much earlier
Director, Informa Pharma Intelligence, UK. stage when they can be cured,” said Dr Igor Sherman,
CEO, Alpha Cancer Technologies, Canada. Alpha
“We also now have genetically modified cell Cancer Technologies Inc. (ACT) is a private clinical
therapies that produce impressive response rates stage biotechnology company with products under
for advanced forms of blood cancer. More generally, development in immunotherapy & immuno-oncology.
cancer populations are being defined not just by The company’s drug products use its proprietary
the tumor location but by an ever-growing list of recombinant human alpha fetoprotein (AFP).
biomarkers that have relevance for prognosis and
the selection of appropriate targeted therapies. Tumor Agnostics
Chemotherapy is still an essential part of cancer Cancer treatment historically has been developed
treatment, but is increasingly being displaced or according to their organ or tissue of origin. But in
supplemented by innovative new cancer drugs,” added the last few years, there has been an uptick in tumor
Chancellor. agnostic therapies for cancer i.e. where patients will

The focus of cancer treatment is rapidly shifting
from a traditional one-size-fits-all approach to
precision medicine, tailored treatments for individual
patients. Let’s look at the next wave of innovations
making headlines in the cancer space:

Next wave of innovations

Liquid biopsy
Until 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration
(USFDA) had approved liquid biopsy tests for single
genes. But in 2020, the US regulator granted two

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LATEST DRUG DEVELOPMENTS instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient
IN THE CANCER SPACE (dMMR) solid tumors. It’s worth noting that
pembrolizumab was earlier approved for skin and lung
● In November 2020, US’ Pfizer invested $60 million cancer.
in US’ Homology Medicines. Homology presented
positive data from a Phase I/II trial (NCT03952156) In June 2020, the USFDA approved another use
for pheNIX, a gene therapy for adults with for pembrolizumab to treat adults and children with
phenylketonuria (PKU) in the same month unresectable or metastatic solid tumors that have a
high tumor mutational burden (TMB-H) and other
● In March 2021, the USFDA approved US’ Celgene’s treatment options offer fewer benefits. Tumour
Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel), a cell-based mutational burden is the number of gene changes, or
gene therapy to treat adult patients with multiple mutations, in a cancer cell.
myeloma who have not responded to, or whose
disease has returned after, at least four prior lines The first FDA tumour-agnostic approval for a drug
(different types) of therapy. Abecma is the first cell- not already in use came in 2018, with the approval
based gene therapy approved by the FDA for the of US’ Loxo Oncology’s Vitrakvi (larotrectinib), a
treatment of multiple myeloma treatment for adult and paediatric patients whose
cancers have a specific genetic feature (biomarker).
● In April 2021, the USFDA approved US’ Bristol-
Myers Squibb’s Opdivo (nivolumab), in combination At least 10 further tumour-agnostic therapies are in
with certain types of chemotherapy, for the initial development, based on a range of genetic mutations,
treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic according to a report in Cancer World. But whilst
gastric cancer, gastroesophageal junction cancer tumour-agnostic approaches have attracted a lot of
and esophageal adenocarcinoma. This is the first attention, it is still a niche area.
FDA-approved immunotherapy for the first-line
treatment of gastric cancer Cell and Gene Therapy
The idea of altering a gene to cure or treat a disease
● In June 2021, US based Intellia announced the is fairly new, but with the first USFDA approval of
first clinical data in history to demonstrate potent Novartis’ gene therapy Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel)
reduction of disease-causing proteins with a single- for certain paediatric and young adult patients with a
dose infusion of CRISPR genome editing therapy. form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in 2017,
They were able to directly deliver lipid nanoparticles that concept is now a reality.
containing Cas9 mRNA and gRNA to liver cells to And the pace of research and development
correct ATTR amyloidosis. This is the first case in cell and gene therapy is increasing. A 2020
of direct gene editing in humans and appeared PhRMA report on the cell and gene therapy pipeline
to be safe and very effective. These landmark found 362 therapies in clinical development by
data represented a momentous milestone for the biopharmaceutical companies.
patients and the biotech industry As of February 2020, there are nine cell or gene
therapy products approved in the US treating cancer,
● In October 2021, China’s IMPACT Therapeutics eye diseases and rare hereditary diseases.
announced that its ATR inhibitor IMP9064 has Some of the innovative cell therapies in
received the IND clearance from USFDA for the development such as Chimeric antigen receptor
Phase I/II clinical study, which will begin soon in Natural Killer (CAR NK) & iPSCs (Induced pluripotent
the U.S. This will be the first in human study for the stem cells) are also being explored alongside CRISPR
ATR inhibitor of IMPACT Therapeutics, representing (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic
a major leap of the company’s global development repeats), a high-precision gene-editing tool, which
strategy for its synthetic lethality pipelines could be another game-changer in oncology.

be treated based on the genomic profile of the tumor, Targeted Therapies
without regard to the cancer type or where the cancer New and more specific targeted therapies are being
started in the body. The tumour-agnostic approach to developed by many companies and some of them have
cancer treatment offers great potential for growth in already shown very high efficacy. In September 2021,
the oncology pharmaceuticals market. UK’s AstraZeneca’s Enhertu (trastuzumab-deruxtecan)
had shown to significantly prolong survival in certain
On May 23, 2017, the USFDA approved the breast cancer patients.
first ever drug in this segment to pembrolizumab In 2019, the FDA had approved both larotrectinib
(KEYTRUDA, Merck & Co.) for adult and paediatric (Bayer and Partners)and Genentech’s entrectinib
patients with unresectable or metastatic, microsatellite

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(Rozlytrek), which are both targeted therapies, to treat GLOBAL CANCER BURDEN
adults and children with solid tumors that have a gene
alteration known as a neurotrophic receptor tyrosine According to new estimates by the International Agency
kinase (NTRK) gene fusion. for Research on Cancer’s Global Cancer Observatory,
the global cancer burden rose to 19.3 million cases and
“Toxicity remains a challenge, but identification 10 million deaths in 2020 and is predicted to increase to
of targets that are more specific for cancer cells and more than 30 million cases and over 16 million deaths
not present on normal cells, such as alpha-fetoprotein by 2040, with most of the increases occurring in low-
receptors, offer a possibility of highly effective and and middle-income countries.
non-toxic cancer therapies,” said Dr Sherman.
“In the next 10 to 20 years we
Synthetic lethality is emerging as an important should be able to cure a lot
cancer therapeutic paradigm and pharma firms are
developing targeted anti-cancer therapeutics based on more people than is possible
this. It refers to the simultaneous deactivation of two, today and to provide a good
non-lethal genes that results in cell death. If specific
genes can be deactivated in tumors, drugs that inhibit quality of life for a much
their synthetic lethal partner genes can target and kill longer time than today to
cancer cells without harming healthy cells. Synthetic
lethal mechanisms are expected to achieve new those we cannot cure.”
breakthroughs in targeted cancer therapy. - Dr Igor Sherman,

Another latest trend in research is to study the CEO, Alpha Cancer Technologies, Canada
microbiome as they can provide ingredients which the
cancer cells can use to favour their growth in specific “Cancer has undergone
tissues and locations. Researchers have shown that huge changes in the last
the makeup of the gut microbiome of mice impacts the five years as new treatments
size and number of their liver cancer tumors. In other that harness the immune
studies with human volunteers, researchers are finding system to restore the balance
more associations. For instance, one research has between cancer cells and
found that a more diverse microbiome could improve
the effectiveness of immunotherapy treatments for healthy cells have been
skin cancer. Clinical trials are ongoing to learn more extensively evaluated.”
about how a healthy microbiome might affect many
other types of cancer and related treatments. - Daniel Chancellor,
Thought Leadership Director,
Can Cancer be Cured? Informa Pharma Intelligence, UK

Oncology continues to attract the majority of “Lifestyle modifications (healthy diet, exercise etc.) are
the investment in the pharma space. In 2020, the closest thing possible that have proven universal
global oncology spending totalled $167 billions. In risk reduction. But cancer is an inevitable consequence
comparison, costs stood at $74 billions six years earlier of human biology. If anything, the more investment
in 2014, according to Statista. that goes into cancer, the more evident it is that
there is no such thing as a universal cure. The ideal
Almost half of the cash spent by drug developers treatment, one that has potential to be curative, has
on company acquisitions and licensing deals has been to be as closely matched as possible to the underlying
directed at oncology over the past five years – a sum of cause(s) that result in the cancer in the first place.
around $120 billion, 41 per cent of the total deployed, Each patient is almost unique in this respect, owing to
according to Evaluate Vantage 2021 Preview. the precise contribution of lifestyle, environmental and
genetic risk factors.”
With billions pouring in from investors and
governments alike, will we be able to finally find a cure The cancer treatment market is on the verge of a
for this disease? Experts are wary about that. paradigm shift, with gene and cell therapy, precision
medicine gaining much more ground. There is a better
“I am not sure if ‘universal cure’ is around the hope that we are on the cusp of finding a suitable
corner, but I am optimistic that in the next 10 to 20 prevention and/or cure for this dreaded disease.
years we should be able to cure a lot more people than
is possible today and to provide a good quality of life Ayesha Siddiqui
for a much longer time than today to those we cannot
cure,” opined Dr Sherman.

Echoing the same sentiments Chancellor said,

34 SPEAKING WITH

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“Uptick in public & private investors
is enabling standalone companies”

« different. The support we give to each one is different.
Whatever is needed to get to a successful Series-A.
Stephan Emmerth,
Director Business We are very focused on data and science. We are
Development & a bit allergic to ventures that have super-smooth,
Operations, BaseLaunch, glossy pitches and lack the substance underneath!
Switzerland
Because we are based in Basel, we get access
Swiss biotech venture accelerator and incubator to the tremendous flow of innovation from this
BaseLaunch was started in 2017 to help leading European life sciences hub. The academic
launch and grow the next generation of and biopharma environment, the deep talent pool of
biotech companies. The accelerator has already the region and the entrepreneur-friendly economic
financed 16 startups and most of them have raised policies of Switzerland make the difference for our
series A funding. BaseLaunch recently partnered portfolio’s success.
with China Medical System Holdings Limited
(CMS) to further strengthen industry ties, fuelling In addition, we partner with key players from the
its company building activities. This is the Swiss biotech sector, leading pharmaceutical companies
accelerator’s second partnership in Asia and and venture funds, that help us in the selection of
the first in China. In an email interaction with ventures as well as providing valuable know-how and
BioSpectrum Asia, Stephan Emmerth, Director of network for their growth. Our partners are Roche,
Business Development & Operations, BaseLaunch, BB Pureos Bioventures, Roivant Sciences, Bridge
Switzerland discusses the accelerator’s success to Bioventures, CSL Behring, Johnson & Johnson and
date, its partnerships and how the COVID-19 crisis China Medical System.
has impacted its operations. Edited excerpts:
How do you charge your startups?

We do not ask for equity, nor do we charge fees to our
startups. We provide convertible loans up to $500k,

Could you tell us what BaseLaunch is all about?

BaseLaunch was initiated in 2017 to help launch
and grow the next generation of biotech companies,
with a focus on innovative therapeutic ventures. We
provide a diverse range of support, from financial
help to strategic advice for de-risking the science and
team build-out. As each project is different, we tailor
our offer to each one, while the venture retains the
control over its decisions. So far, we have financed
16 startups and most of them have already raised
significant series A funding from top tier investors,
totaling over $270 million in financing and an
average total raise per company of over $34 million.

How would you differentiate your accelerator
from the other accelerators in the field?

We are completely customised. We don’t do training
courses or anything like that. All ventures are

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which are convertible on behalf of our partners. If novel class of immunosuppressive therapies for
there is no conversion then the loan only needs to autoimmune-inflammatory diseases and organ
be returned when the company raises a significant transplantation.
amount of money. It is constructed in a way to be
investor friendly. ● Engimmune is a platform and product
development company from the ETH Zürich
What are the selection criteria for startups in engineering highly potent and specific therapies
your accelerator? based on T cell receptor (TCR) to target solid
tumours. The company addresses key efficacy and
We look for therapeutic projects that have solid safety challenges that currently limit the full potential
and highly innovative science with a committed of TCR-T cell and soluble TCR therapeutics.
team, in any therapeutic sector and modality. The
projects selected are often at a pre-seed to seed stage, Additionally, we are closing several other
with a realistic route towards Series A financing financings currently and hope to announce them soon.
within approximately two years. Projects should
demonstrate initial efficacy of their approach (ideally You’ve recently partnered with China’s CMS.
in-vivo data). We have also selectively backed Is this your first partnership in Asia?
projects that were much earlier than in-vivo data -
with differentiation from the competitive landscape. We are glad to have recently welcomed China’s CMS
as a BaseLaunch partner. This is our first Chinese
Which companies are you currently working partner and the second partnership in Asia, following
with? BridgeBio, based in South Korea.

We have recently announced three companies in our By partnering with us, pharmas, biotechs, and
portfolio, with whom we are currently working: VC partners get access to high quality deal flow from
across Europe and their financial participation goes
● Incephalo is a preclinical stage spin-off from exclusively into the portfolio companies. They get the
the University of Zurich, positioned as a CLocked Fc- opportunity to convert in a future fundraising. In this
Fusion Cytokine and antibody company. Its first asset way, they support the early biotech ecosystem and
is for glioblastoma and its pipeline includes multiple benefit from delayed gratification, meaning they are
sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. able to wait on the final investment decision until it
is clear whether, over time, the venture is going in a
● NextImmune is a spin-off from the Biozentrum, direction that fits them.
University of Basel. The company works on a
In addition, our partners have the ability to bring
us projects that are too early for them and can benefit
from us working on getting them developed.

How has the ‘pandemic’ affected your
operations?

The ‘pandemic’ has not significantly affected our
operations, as we were able to digitalise many of our
processes and move our events to an online format
during this period, allowing us to reach a broader
audience. We have received applications from some
projects that aim to provide COVID-19 treatments.
We are currently evaluating a few of them. Overall,
the crisis has shown the importance of investing in
scientific innovation. The increasing receptiveness of
public and private investors to the biotech sector is
making it possible to build standalone companies.

Are there any new projects in the offing?

Our next application deadline is December 19, 2021.
We would like to encourage participation from early
stage projects. We may help you to get your project
off the ground and become one of the next cutting-
edge biotech companies.

Ayesha Siddiqui

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“GI’s therapeutic pipeline is currently
focused on diseases with high unmet need”

« valid, predictive models for such diseases, leading
to the lack of well-validated genetic targets. Over
Bertrand Adanve, 99 per cent of the genes and/or genetic features
that cause multigenic diseases remain unknown.
Founder & CEO, Lack of effective tools to analyse the whole genome
to uncover the roles of these non-coding genes in
Genetic Intelligence, disease are creating “undruggable” perspective to an
ailment.
USA
ii. The reliance on drug modalities that have
The limitations of the existing drug limited ability to achieve modulation of their genetic
discovery paradigm reveals that there targets in a safe and effective way with minimal off-
are still no effective prevention or real target effects.
cures for most complex inherited diseases such
as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer’s Genetic Intelligence has solved these two
disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and cancers. challenges by pioneering a whole genome analysis
Despite accelerating genome sequencing and platform that blends genetic principles with
creating CRISPR genetic therapy modalities, proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms
improving speed and cost of drug discovery to identify actionable disease targets (whether
by adopting targeted drug discovery methods coding or non-coding) that can be leveraged for
has become a crucial therapeutic need of the effective cures. This is followed by the design of
hour. Genetic Intelligence (GI), a deep-tech, oligonucleotide- or small molecule-based modalities
drug discovery company is at the forefront to modulate the targets at the RNA-transcript
of developing solutions to creating effective level, which circumvents the limitations inherent
medicines for diseases with unmet needs, by to protein targeting and allows effective and safe
leveraging on AI and neural network. Bertrand targeting of any genetic target (whether coding or
Adanve, Founder & CEO at Genetic Intelligence, non-coding).
USA provides further insights on these
precision gene therapeutics. Edited excerpts; The full Genetic Intelligence pipeline is
employed end-to-end in diseases where a causal
How do you describe Genetic Intelligence target or otherwise effective target isn’t yet known.
(GI) Platform design for a swift drug But in diseases where there are validated targets
target discovery by eluding undruggability that are undruggable at the protein level, the
limitations? second part of our platform is directly engaged,
i.e., RNA-targeted drug discovery. Thus, our target
The Genetic Intelligence (GI) platform is founded discovery and drug discovery capabilities can be
upon our two core beliefs to (a) explore the fully independent of each other.
unexplored 99 per cent of the genome to identify
genetically defined targets and (b) drug the target Can you elaborate GI’s therapeutic
at the RNA transcript stage using small molecule
or oligonucleotide modalities. The GI platform was approach in developing small molecule or
pioneered to address the key challenges facing drug
discovery today. oligonucleotide modalities for precision

The root causes of the lack of effective drugs therapeutics?
against many complex inherited diseases are two-
fold: To produce precision therapeutics, the GI platform
relies on four primary layers: Bergspitze, Franklin,
i. The field’s collective inability to produce Orisha, and Lea.

● Bergspitze is a biology-aware artificial
intelligence (AI) stack that takes in whole genome
sequences (WGS) from disease patients and tames
the noise of the whole genome to pinpoint the
disease causing genetic positions.

● Franklin is the interpretation infrastructure
that takes in the output from Bergspitze and

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provides a coherent etiology model for the disease reduced side effects, faster time to market, lower
by confirming targets to leverage for a cure. development costs, and can benefit from regulatory
acceleration programmes such as the FDA’s fast
● Together, the Bergspitze and Franklin layers track, orphan drug and breakthrough designations.
address the first challenge of identifying novel, Patients and society-at-large can benefit from an
actionable disease targets from across the whole accelerated target-to-therapy pipeline, decreased
genome. risk of failure in clinical trials, and more effective
and affordable treatments since research and
● The Orisha layer designs RNA-targeted development is less costly.
molecules to modulate a target’s RNA transcript at
the sequence level via antisense oligonucleotides Could you share the therapeutic pipeline
(ASOs) or at the structure level via RNA-targeted
small molecules (rSM). In this layer, intensive at GiTx (Genetic Intelligence therapies)
checks of the ASO or rSM designs are performed
computationally against the full transcriptome to predictive models curing chronic conditions
minimise potential off-targets, thus ensuring that
the ASO or rSM candidates are highly specific to the and APAC market access strategy?
given target.
GI’s therapeutic pipeline is currently focused on
● The final layer, Lea, confirms experimentally diseases with high unmet need, i.e., significant
the novel disease targets and advanced therapeutic global patient population pool coupled with
candidates produced by the computational layers lack of effective curative drugs. These include
using patient-derived iPSC (stem cell) assays, which neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic
are human and disease-relevant models. lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia
(FTD) and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as idiopathic
How is GI Platform solving the challenges at pulmonary fibrosis and certain cancers. However,
GI platform is disease-agnostic and can be applied
the onerousness drug development process widely to diseases where there are no known
effective targets and/or to cases where there are
while reducing drug development cost? validated genetic targets but those are difficult to
modulate with existing drug modalities.
It is a well-known statistic that more than 9 in 10
drugs that enter clinical trials fail, not to mention The power and potential of GI’s technology
the vast number of candidates that fail at earlier platform is best illustrated using the example of our
stages of the drug development process prior to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) programme,
entering clinical trials. This onerous statistic is due which was built entirely from scratch using GI’s
primarily to the lack of demonstrable efficacy of platform. Whole genome sequences of ALS patients
drugs. were analysed using Bergspitze and Franklin
to identify six novel genetic targets that were
This challenge is probably the key reason previously unexplored in ALS. We have validated
resulting in the high cost of drugs that reach the one of the target genes which upon modulation
clinic, since the drug needs to be priced to cover improves survival and lowers a key disease-causing
the cost of research and development leading to the biomarker. This achievement validates the power
successful drug, as well as cover the cost of all the of GI’s platform to discover novel, actionable and
failed drug candidates along the way. effective genetically defined targets. Subsequently,
we used Orisha to design ASO drug candidates
The GI platform addresses the heart of this against GI’s validated ALS target. GI’s cancer
issue by overcoming the two key reasons for the programme employs our RNA-targeted small
lack of efficacy of drug candidates: going after the molecule discovery capability.
wrong target and/or using drug modalities that are
ineffective at modulating the target. The first two GI validates novel genetic targets and drug
layers of the GI platform, Bergspitze and Franklin, candidates for diseases with an AI-driven, drug
address the problem of identifying novel, actionable development hub in the Asia Pacific with regional
targets for a disease. presence in Singapore. GI is open to collaboration
opportunities on our existing internal programs to
GI’s technology overcomes limitations at address diseases of their interest whether starting at
traditional approaches for whole genome analysis the target discovery stage or starting at the RNA-
and identifies drug modalities to modulate a target. targeted drug discovery stage.
The GI platform relies on validated computational
models to rapidly generate ASO and rSM designs Hithaishi C Bhaskar
that eliminate the need for expensive and time- [email protected]
consuming experimental approaches.

All these factors lead to efficacious drugs with

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“Our goal is to decouple
process from the product”

« our market space. We are big suppliers of analytical
instruments for regulated applications, especially in
Dr Udit Batra, QA and QC for pharma drug manufacturing. We are
growth leaders especially in the last year. If we look
President and at the first half of the year our global growth rate was
27-30 per cent versus last year. If we look at the two-
Chief Executive Officer, year basis, i.e. during the pandemic period, the growth
was about 7 per cent, which was at the high end of
Waters Corporation, the industry’s average growth during the period. That
was a robust growth within a very attractive market.
USA With lots of unmet needs in the market, what makes
it attractive is not just the growth but the ability to
Waters Corporation, a world leader in maintain a strong position once we are in. And that’s
analytical technologies, has recorded sales the advantage we have.
of $1,949 million, an increase of 23 per cent
for the first nine months of 2021, compared to sales What about the Indian market in particular?
of $1,579 million for the first nine months of 2020.
The company has pioneered chromatography, mass In India, thanks to Anil [Kumar, Waters India
spectrometry and thermal analysis innovations serving President & GM] and his team, we have witnessed
the life, materials and food sciences for more than roughly 60 per cent growth versus last year in the
60 years. This significant growth at Waters is led by second quarter. For the first half of the year this
Dr. Udit Batra, President and Chief Executive Officer number was 40 per cent. Really a very good growth.
of Waters Corporation, USA who has taken over this This is behind a lot of consumption by contract
position effective September 1, 2020. In an interview manufacturers and generics players for HPLC
with BioSpectrum, Dr. Batra, who has more than two instruments. We are active in this space. I have a lot
decades of leadership and operational expertise in the to thank Anil and his team in India because they were
healthcare and life sciences industry, including a proven able to work through how difficult it was during the
track record of driving results at the top of the industry pandemic for certain times in India. They were able
and successfully managing a global organisation, shared to work during the pandemic and were able to get
the growth of the analytical instruments market and products to our customers, which are very relevant to
challenges the industry is facing besides the initiatives
taken by Waters. Edited excerpts;

What is the analytical industry scenario in

India and globally?

The analytical industry market, I rather call it the
life sciences tools and diagnostics industry, is large
and growing and is quite attractive. If we put some
dimension to it then it will be in the range between
$300 and $350 billion and witnessing single digit
growth. There are certain segments that are more
attractive than others. As Waters we are active in
the QA (quality assurance) and QC (quality control)
and the analytical instruments part of this industry,
which is roughly 15-20 per cent of the total. That is

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medicines that are produced even to combat COVID. There are significant applications and improvement
In some cases, our service engineers had even more in applications in pharma, biomedical research,
preferred access over the employees of the companies materials research, and natural products research. It is
that we are serving. Ironically our service engineers a state-of-the-art mass spec instrument that increases
are more on the sites than their own employees the time of flight in mass spectrometry by about 50-
because the instruments that we are servicing were fold. This means that one can get higher resolution at
that important. India has done very well. In fact it faster speeds and do these experiments much faster.
is the fastest growing large market that we have in
Waters for the first half of the year. With lock-down enforced globally & nationally
that impacted shipping and air cargo, how was
What are the new products likely to come out Waters able to manage the situation from India
and the US to other markets, globally?
and transform the ongoing and post COVID-19
The first and foremost objective that we have globally
scenario? and in India particularly is to protect our employees
and their families. We were able to do that with a lot
We at Waters are very active with new product of focus. Many of our employees are vaccinated. We
launches. I will share three examples that are relevant have stringent rules and that has been quite successful
for the current time. The first one is in the mRNA- and we have a very scientific basis for doing that.
based vaccine space and here if we think of mRNA From a distribution perspective we have long-standing
as a vaccine and as a modality for the future it can relationships with multiple global freight forwarders
be broken into three parts. Plasmid manufacturing, and as such, they offered us many options. The same
mRNA molecule manufacturing and formulation of thing is true in India. We have deep relationships
mRNA with lipid nanoparticles. In all of the three with the freight forwarders in India and in particular,
cases the molecules have an affinity to metal surfaces. during the pandemic our products served the life
We have designed a surface technology which reduces sciences industry relevant for COVID-19. So far,
metal binding with these kinds of compounds. It is we have managed to get preferential access and we
very relevant for what we are doing today. And it is haven’t faced any meaningful challenges to getting our
relevant for large molecules. The first one is a Premier products to our customers.
technology that has been rolled out for our columns -
our separation columns and now for our instruments What are the challenges that you see in the
across HPLCs and ULPC lines. Second is in the area analytical industry?
of diagnostics. We recently launched our LC-MS
Research Use Only kit for SARS-COV-2 virus that has One of the biggest challenges is that while mass
significant potential to be expanded to other areas as spec is one of the most powerful techniques in the
well. We are very happy about it. The third one is high- industry, it is rather complex to operate. LC-MS and
end technology in the mass spec space. Recently we liquid chromatography mass spec combined has
launched the Multi-Reflecting Time-of-Flight (MRT) applications in bioprocessing, application in research
mass spectrometry platform, SELECT SERIES MRT, labs and diagnostic labs but for it to be useful in bulk
a high-resolution mass spectrometer instrument. processing we need to simplify its use. We have done,
I would say, a tremendous job in this space. Recently
with one of the products, I would say is BioAccord,
which produces results at the highest levels of quality
with a very simple to use LC-MS instrument and also
produces data that is compliant. It is tailor-made
for applications in the bioprocess space and in the
QA and QC space in particular. We are trying to do
this in the diagnostics space as well. I think that is
one of the biggest challenges - we have very powerful
instruments that we have not necessarily in the past
done a good job of simplifying for use. The second
challenge I would say as an industry we faced is, as
more and more complex products are developed,
especially in the biologics space, the manufacturers
have to file not just the product but also they have to
file the process patent with the regulators and that

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Pharma is the largest customer that we had with National Health Services for the Test
globally for Waters. We have seen that and Trace programme. We have been very active in
the overall business has grown more taking LC-MS and making it an alternative diagnostic
than 27 per cent over the first half of method for COVID- 19. As I mentioned earlier the RUO
the year and the pharma component kit came out of this collaboration. It has significantly
has grown in excess of 30 per cent. lower false positives than PCR tests. Then you may
Pharma is growing faster than our ask ‘why is it not widely available?’ Partly because this
average growth. Our products are was developed during the pandemic. There were not
very relevant for what pharmaceutical sufficient regulatory and commercial capabilities to get
companies are doing and they are this into every market. But the learnings that we have
very receptive not just to our existing now will allow us to take it to different markets of the
products but to our new products. world. These are three recent and relevant research
From a revenue perspective it has initiatives that we have during the pandemic.
grown faster than the overall business.
What is the kind of the hiring on the cards for
does not allow us to modify the process by which these the company across the markets and which
products are manufactured, at least not easily once areas would it be in?
we have launched these products to the market. That
limits the application of technology. Our goal is to We have roughly 650 open positions globally across
decouple the process from the product. These are just the domains. As I mentioned, since our sales growth
two examples that I would like to highlight. There are is quite impressive, we are really focused on making
several other challenges as well. sure that our sales team is fully staffed, our research
team is fully staffed, and the manufacturing operation
How much are you spending on research is fully staffed. There are openings across the board.
activities on developing new products? In India, we have about 350 or so people and there
is about 25-30 vacancies at any point in time and
Over the last few years our research spending has especially now. We are now deeply focused not just on
increased by double digits, well above our sales filling the vacancies but also smartly thinking of what
growth. Right now it’s been about 6-8 per cent of our capabilities we need to become an even a stronger
sales. It has grown between 12 and 15 per cent in the digital company, a strong R&D based company that is
last few years. We are investing more and more in where our focus is all about.
R&D. Besides investments what is more important is
what areas we have been spending time and energy How receptive have pharma companies been
and whom we are working with. to invest in analytical instruments from Waters
during the last 18 months of the pandemic?
I would give three highlights of recent work that
show that we have long-standing relationships with Pharma is the largest customer globally for Waters. We
many different academic institutions. The first one is have seen why the overall business has grown more
very relevant to the SARS-COV-2 virus. We are using than 27 per cent over the first half of the year and the
our SELECT SERIES Cyclic IMS-MS, a mass spec that pharma component has grown in excess of 30 per
allows you to separate and identify the proteins not cent. Pharma is growing faster than the average. Our
just based on size but also on shape. This has been products are very relevant for what pharmaceutical
especially relevant to look at spike proteins for the companies are doing and they are very receptive not
SARS-COV-2 virus and also influenza virus. This is just to our existing products but to our new products.
one collaboration that we have with Boston University From a revenue perspective it has grown faster than
in the US. The second one that I would highlight the overall business. And the same thing is relevant
is the partnership with Singapore’s Bioprocessing for India. In India our business is heavily focused on
Technology Institute. Remember I mentioned that one pharma… as I mentioned earlier, India is our fastest-
of the big challenges is simplifying LC-MS for use in growing large market that grew 60 per cent in the
bioprocessing and complex molecules. That is what second quarter of the year, and roughly 40 per cent for
this collaboration envisages. That is what we are trying the first half of the year. It was largely driven by pharma
to do with the Bioprocessing Technology Institute in firms including large pharma customers, generics
Singapore to really bring LC-MS into the bioprocessing customers, and contract manufacturers who have been
suite. The third one is the UK government collaboration buying our products heavily in India in particular.

Narayan Kulkarni
[email protected]

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Vaccine Immunology — Potentially the
Biggest Game Changer in Asian Healthcare

There is a common pearl of Indian wisdom that «
encourages parents to let their children play
outside in the sun, rain, gardens and mud. The Dr Simon Gallagher,
premise is that it allows children to grow closer to General Manager
nature and natural elements, but it also helps them India (interim), ICMEA,
build immunity and become tough. In modern science, Growth And Emerging
various medical research has reported the benefits Markets Business Unit,
of environmental exposure in early childhood for Takeda, Singapore
developing immunity. Conceptually, natural exposure
to certain types of common microbes, germs, and in developing new vaccines for various infectious
allergens contributes to immune development rather diseases, the stronger the possibilities will be to
than an excessive hygiene lifestyle. safeguard global public health and boost economies.
Vaccinating the public would increase financial
However, these immunity-building efforts are savings and national productivity, minimise the socio-
not enough for the millions of more potent and more economic impact of the cost of treatment, and enable
infectious new and existing pathogens like Dengue economic growth and development. However, vaccine
and Zika virus that have till now gone under the radar. immunology will not only benefit public health and the
Historically, such viruses have caused considerable economy at large, but it can also be a game-changer for
losses to life and the economy and continue to impact the healthcare industry in several ways.
the world order today. The ongoing COVID-19
pandemic is the most definitive example of how a Open new frontiers & make
flu-like virus can wreak havoc in the world, and that’s prevention central in healthcare
where vaccine immunology comes in. After the two
deadly COVID-19 waves, the awareness of adult While the world has been conducting mega
immunisation has started to develop and as a result, vaccination drives against some diseases in recent
the demand for adult vaccination, even for vaccines decades, the medical services industry has focused on
such as Hepatitis B soared. curative healthcare to treat the infected population.
Undoubtedly, the curative medical field is essential
Vaccines are deservingly credited as the only for any healthcare ecosystem, but it has specific
effective solution that has stopped and contained challenges. Remedial measures in terms of deadly
disease spread or eradicated diseases globally. diseases are far from perfect. The solutions are
Complete eradication of smallpox and 99.9 per short-term, are draining on public and healthcare
cent decline in polio cases worldwide are its most resources, have adverse health effects, lead to more
significant achievements with immunisation complicated conditions due to prolonged treatment
preventing 4 to 5 million child deaths annually. regimens, and so on.
However, 1.5 million children younger than five
years still die due to vaccine-preventable deaths. The On the contrary, conscious focus on vaccination
challenge becomes even more unique with emerging immunology will open new frontiers of research and
diseases and new infection outbreaks making global
health more vulnerable.

The development of new and better vaccines
targeted at more common and deadly diseases like
HIV, TB, etc., can help transform the current state
of public health tremendously. It will help bring
equity to healthcare and strengthen social care
infrastructure. The development of new vaccines
would reduce disease morbidity and mortality, help
eradicate diseases, build overall herd immunity,
reduce secondary infections, and prevent antibiotic
resistance in people.

The more successful immunological research is

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Immunisation is deservingly credited impacted regions by both communicable and non-
as a game changer in the healthcare communicable diseases.
industry. The need of the hour is to invest
in research and development for major The continent has been housing over 50 per cent
breakthroughs in vaccine development. of the global population for over 70 years now, with
At the same time, collaborations almost 30 per cent of the international land area.
in the industry can take us closer Presently, it comprises 5 out of the top 10 highest
to transformations. Public-private populated countries globally and is home to about 60
partnerships can be the key to counter per cent of the global population. Southern, Eastern
vaccine hesitancy in the population and and South-Eastern Asia include about 55 per cent of
accelerate unique solutions for improved the global population within the continent. With the
patient care. Such collaborations can median age being 28-30 years, these Asian regions
assist in streamlined and accelerated will remain the most populated for decades to come.
approval of innovative vaccines that Consequently, despite all the economic progress,
targets unmet needs in Asia. the region’s people have one of the lowest access to
healthcare services. The challenges of recovery from
development in hundreds of disease areas. With a crisis are more remarkable for an area of such size.
over 7 billion people in the world required to be The demographic factors are reasons enough for the
immunised against numerous diseases, the industry region to invest heavily and collectively in public
will benefit from constant revenue generation. It will health, vaccination, and immunisation policies.
put prevention back at the heart of all healthcare,
truly realigning preventive medical care to global There’s one more reason. Asian economies have
healthcare objectives. shown the tremendous potential of doing remarkable
work in any field under the sun. India and China
Reduce disease burden and enhance the lead the space in development along with countries
quality of care like Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and smaller
powerhouses like Honk Kong and Taiwan. India
In most countries the world over, the healthcare already has a remarkable distinction of being the
services are largely inadequate to serve the regional world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines, and its
population. The pandemic is a testimony of how Indradhanush and Polio immunisation programmes
healthcare systems of even developed and evolved have garnered appreciation the world over. With
economies appear as fragile in times of public health the potential and capabilities Asian countries hold,
crisis. In developing nations, the challenges are more it only fits that they develop seamless cross-border
extensive in terms of affordability and accessibility. collaboration on vaccine immunology and steer the
Furthermore, any stressed service delivery system game-changing movement in the healthcare space.
compromises quality, which can be life-threatening
or severely damaging when healthcare services are Making vaccine immunology a success
concerned. Investment in vaccination immunology
and successes in various disease areas can be a game- Immunisation is deservingly credited as a game
changer in reducing disease burden drastically. changer in the healthcare industry. The need of the
hour is to invest in research and development for
Also, a sharp focus on upgrading the entire major breakthroughs in vaccine development.
immunology infrastructure, institutions, technologies
and developing vaccines for existing diseases will At the same time, collaborations in the industry
put in place a global ecosystem that can be leveraged can take us closer to transformations. Public-
during a health crisis. The cost of arming vaccine private partnerships can be the key to counter
immunology programmes is far less than the cost of vaccine hesitancy in the population and accelerate
the pandemic of scale and proportions of COVID-19. unique solutions for improved patient care. Such
collaborations can assist in streamlined and
The Asian Perspective accelerated approval of innovative vaccines that targets
unmet needs in Asia. The vaccines with proven efficacy
The largest continent on earth has a significant must be included in the National Immunisation
role to play in driving this transformation. Asia has Programme (NIP) so that they are accessible to
to lead the vaccination immunology space because it everyone and can create a larger public health impact.
needs to. Historically, it is one of the most severely With concerted efforts, vaccine immunology can
play an important role in transforming the medical
industry and reducing the disease burden, serving the
highest populated region in the process.

PEOPLE NEWS 43

BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | WWW.BIOSPECTRUMASIA.COM Dr Rajesh

Kira Pharma appoints Gokhale steps
Teri Loxam as COO & CFO
in as new
Kira Pharmaceuticals, a China and UK-based biotechnology company
pioneering transformational complement-targeted therapies to treat DBT
immune-mediated diseases, has announced the appointment of Teri
Loxam as Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Financial Officer Secretary,
(CFO). Teri will replace interim CFO Matt Gorman and will oversee
finance along with several strategic and operational functions of the India
company. Teri joins Kira from SQZ Biotechnologies, where she served as
Dr Rajesh Gokhale has been
CFO and was instrumental in raising more than appointed as the Secretary,
$200 million, including taking the company Department of Biotechnology
public, to advance the company’s novel cell (DBT), Ministry of Science
therapy platforms. She previously served as and Technology, Government
Senior Vice President of Investor Relations of India. He succeeds Dr
and Global Communications at Merck, Renu Swarup who retired on
Vice President of Investor Relations at October 31, 2021. Dr Gokhale
IMAX supporting the company’s IPO on has been serving as a
the Hong Kong exchange, and held senior professor at the Department
strategic roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb. of Biology, Indian Institute
She also currently serves on the board of Science Education and
of Vaxcyte and as an advisor to Cardiol Research (IISER), Pune and
Therapeutics, both of which are is known for his studies on
publicly traded companies. the metabolic diversity of
pathogens. He is credited
ASP appoints Nilesh Shah with the discovery of a family
as vice president of long-chain fatty acyl-AMP
Ligases. He is a fellow of the
Advanced Sterilization Products’ (ASP) recently appointed Vice Indian Academy of Sciences,
President, General Manager and Global Commercial Leader, Nilesh Shah the Indian National Science
looks to strengthen ASP’s footing in growing markets to improve Academy and the National
healthcare standards by reducing the rate of healthcare- Academy of Sciences. He has
associated infections (HAI). After successfully managing been awarded Swarnajayanti
the transition from Johnson & Johnson to Fortive as Fellowship, Dr Shanti
the parent arm in 2019, Shah is expanding ASP into Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, the
emerging markets in Asia to equip healthcare facilities national bioscience award for
with infection prevention technologies and workflow career development and the
solutions to increase efficacy and productivity. With over Infosys prize in Life Sciences.
23 years of experience in the healthcare industry
in various segments ranging from sales and
product development to marketing in global
roles based in the US and EU, it was in 2012
when he decided to shift his focus to the APAC
region. Churning out his leadership abilities
and experience, he landed the role as ASP’s Vice
President/P & L Leader for Europe, Middle East,
Africa, Asia Pacific, and Latin America recently
where he opened the Singapore ASP office. With
Nilesh’s previous experience in the global market,
he is set to focus his strategy and operations in
Asia, EMEA and the Americas.

44 PEOPLE NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | www.biospectrumasia.com

Farrer Park Hanmi Science CEO takes charge
Hospital as Oxford Vacmedix’s Director
announces new
Chief Executive Oxford Vacmedix (OVM), the Hanmi businesses, including
Officer UK-based biopharma company the registration and approval
focused on the development of of many new pharmaceutical
Singapore-based Farrer Park cancer vaccines has announced products and the out-licensing
Hospital (FPH) has announced the appointment of Chong- of multiple drug candidates
the appointment of Dr Timothy Yoon Lim as a Director of the to other global companies. In
Low as its Chief Executive company. Lim is the Chief 2016, Lim became the CEO of
Officer (CEO). The outgoing Executive Officer (CEO) of Hanmi Science and in 2019 he
CEO (FPH), Dr Peng Chung Hanmi Science, one of the was appointed the Chairman
Mien, continues as Group CEO largest biopharma companies of the Korea Biotechnology
of The Farrer Park Company, in South Korea and has Industry Organisation.
which owns FPH and One recently acquired a leading
Farrer Hotel. Dr Low leaves his shareholding in Cancer ROP,
current appointment as Head the principal Series A investor
of Healthcare Investment at in OVM. He joined Hanmi
Pavilion Capital, a subsidiary Pharma in 2000 and was
of Singapore’s state investment appointed as CEO in 2009,
firm, Temasek Holdings. He also taking roles as the CEO of
is currently, and has been for Beijing Hanmi and of Hanmi
several years, a member of China. In 2007 he established
FPH’s Board of Directors. Dr Coree Therapeutics in South
Low has extensive experience Korea. He was responsible for
in the healthcare industry. He the rapid development of the
has been CEO at Gleneagles
Hospital, Vice President at Kazia Therapeutics picks Dr John
Covidien, and regional medical Friend as Chief Medical Officer
director at Schering-Plough,
before his first tenure as CEO, Australia-based Kazia Therapeutics has announced the appointment
FPH in 2015. He joined the FPH of Dr John Friend, as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). In this role,
Board in 2018. Dr Friend will be responsible for overseeing the development and
commercialisation of Kazia’s pipeline drug candidates, and for

collaborating with clinicians and scientists to
advance the company’s research
programmes. In a career spanning more
than 25 years, he has worked across
a wide range of therapeutic areas in
roles spanning early clinical research
through to medical affairs. Of note, he
spent seven years with the US business
unit of Helsinn Therapeutics, a leading
European specialty pharmaceutical
company, leaving as Senior Vice
President of Medical and Scientific
Affairs. Prior to joining Kazia, he was
Chief Medical Officer at Cellectar
Biosciences, Inc, a clinical-stage,
oncology-focused biotech company
based in the US.

R&D NEWS 45

BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | www.biospectrumasia.com

NZ brings Japan’s GHIT Fund invests
$6.6M in new partnerships
technology that for life-saving drugs

allows for needle-free The Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT)
Fund in Japan has announced a total of approximately
glucose monitoring 750 million yen ($6.6 million approx.) to invest in
six partnerships to develop new lifesaving drugs for
A needle-free technology that would allow malaria and Chagas Disease, a vaccine for malaria,
people with diabetes to measure blood sugar and diagnostics for tuberculosis (TB). $733K has
levels without having to stick a needle into their been invested in evaluating the performance of the
fingertips, has been bought closer to reality by Lung Flute/Lung Flute ECO to improve sputum-
researchers at the Auckland Bioengineering based TB diagnosis primarily in vulnerable groups
Institute (ABI), New Zealand (NZ). Researchers in a TB-endemic setting, while $4.1 million is being
have demonstrated for the first time that a used in clinical development of two Placental Malaria
jet injector could also be used to collect blood (PM) vaccine candidates known as PAMVAC and
samples from humans, that is, release enough PRIMVAC. Simultaneously, $870K has been injected
blood for glucose sampling, sans needles. to further development of novel anti-Trypanosoma
Jet injection has been the subject of years of cruzi (T. cruzi) drugs acting against the selected target
research by the ABI Bioinstrumentation Lab identified in a previous GHIT-invested study. GHIT
at the ABI, University of Auckland, which will also invest $170K for drug screening programmes
includes developing jet injectors for delivering in collaboration with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases
drugs such as insulin, nicotine, and as local initiative (DNDi), Daiichi Sankyo ($96K) and Takeda
anaesthetic for dental treatment. The team is Pharmaceutical ($79K) will conduct a screening for
now investigating if they can use jet injection hit identification for Chagas disease by utilising their
not only to release blood, but to suck back, to compound libraries.
extract fluid. This would allow for the design of
an even smaller nozzle.

Singapore develops glaucoma implant that reduces eye pressure

A new glaucoma implant developed innovation advances the treatment
by a National University Health of glaucoma. In patients with
System team in Singapore reduces medically uncontrolled glaucoma,
patients’ eye pressure (also known the PGI offers a viable option in the
as intraocular pressure, IOP) for a management of refractory glaucoma,
longer period of time and enables a severe form of glaucoma that has a
less reliance on eye drops. The high risk of failure from conventional
Paul Glaucoma Implant (PGI) is a trabeculectomy surgery. The implant
glaucoma drainage device which is licensed to a startup company
regulates IOP and prevents further Advanced Ophthalmic Innovations
progression of the disease that leads (AOI) and has been used for
to blindness. With a higher efficacy glaucoma treatments in Singapore,
and safety profile in reducing Europe, South Africa, Middle-east,
IOP, this medical technology and Asia Pacific.

46 R&D NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | www.biospectrumasia.com

India designs novel NIH injects $8.9M to
computational identify genetic causes of
model to predict depression in South Korea
‘change blindness’
A team of researchers will risk factors of the disease or
A phenomenon of overlooking a lead the largest population condition to determine what
visual change, or ‘change blindness’, study of its kind aimed at specific genetic factors could
has been studied by a research learning more about the underlie major depressive
group at the Centre for Neuroscience genetic variations that affect disorder in all the ways it
and the Department of Computer individuals’ risk for depression manifests. The study also will
Science and Automation, Indian after receiving a five-year, create the largest available
Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. $8.98 million grant from the dataset of genetic information
Change blindness reflects the National Institute of Mental related to major depressive
inability to immediately detect Health, part of the National disorder for East Asian
salient changes in cluttered scenes. Institutes of Health (NIH). individuals, increasing the
The researchers have developed The study, ‘Identifying the diversity of genetic discovery
a novel computational model of Genetic Causes of Depression efforts. The research teams
eye movement that can predict a in a Deeply Phenotyped from US-based Virginia
person’s ability to detect changes in Population from South Commonwealth University
their visual environment, in a study Korea’, will focus on deep will interview 20,000 women
published in PLoS Computational phenotyping looking at the in South Korea, 10,000 with
Biology. The researchers believe full picture of all the clinical recurrent major depression
that successful change detection features and symptoms and and 10,000 in the control
may be linked to enhanced visual many of the environmental group, for this project.
attention, how some people are
better at selectively focusing on Australia builds bionic
specific objects. According to technology to assist
the researchers, the insights into people with nerve damage
understanding change blindness
provided by their model could help A shoe insole using bionic technology to help people with
scientists better understand visual nerve damage maintain their balance has been designed by
attention and its limitations. Some University of Queensland (UQ) researchers in Australia. One
examples of areas where such insights in six people will experience foot sensory loss due to numerous
can be applied include diagnosing types of neuropathy and up to 65 per cent of people with
neurodevelopmental disorders like
autism, improving road safety while this nerve damage will
driving or enhancing the reliability fall each year. The new
of eyewitness testimonies. In the bionic technology called
future, the researchers also plan to Augmented Vibrotexture is
incorporate artificial neural networks a hybrid design combining
with ‘memory’ into the model to more vibration and geometric
realistically mimic the way our brains texture into an insole,
retain recollections of past events to which provides stimuli to
detect changes. the soles of the feet. This
provides feedback along
major sensory nerves that carry signals about touch, vibration
and position sense from the feet to the brain to help maintain
balance. The insoles are operated by a mobile app that tracks the
user’s health and also allows remote health monitoring between
patients and clinicians.

ACADEMICS NEWS 47

BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | www.biospectrumasia.com India to open

NZ announces one-of- first medical
its-kind Pharmaceutical
Science degree cobotics centre

Otago University’s School of Pharmacy in the Division of Health Sciences I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics
will be offering a Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science degree from 2022. (IHFC), the Technology
This is the only degree of its type in New Zealand (NZ). Pharmaceutical Innovation Hub (TIH) of Indian
science encompasses a broad range of scientific disciplines critical to Institute of Technology Delhi
the discovery and development of new drugs and therapies. This area (IIT Delhi) and iHub Anubhuti,
of study will appeal to students who have an interest in science and the TIH of Indraprastha
technology and a passion for medicines that prevent and treat disease Institute of Information
in plants, animals, and humans. This will be a lab-based degree, so the Technology Delhi (IIITD),
students will be getting practical experience in the discovery, design, recently signed a Memorandum
synthesis, formulation and delivery of pharmaceuticals. The degree of Understanding (MoU) to
structure is flexible enough for students to be able to fine-tune their set up India’s first Medical
study to their own interests by adding papers from other departments. Cobotics Centre (MCC) at IIIT-
Also unique to this degree, the curriculum intertwines traditional Delhi. Medical Cobotics Centre
medicine to help understand medicines beyond western practices. This (MCC) will be a technology-
degree already has an agreement for a cohort of international students enabled medical simulation
from Chengdu University of Traditional Medicine, China. These and training facility for the
students will be able to complete one and half years of study in their young resident doctors besides
own country, and then years two and three with Otago. acting as a validation centre
for the research outcomes in
Pakistan, China ink MoU to the area of healthcare robotics
strengthen medical innovation and digital health. The centre
would facilitate the training of
Pakistan and China have signed a Memorandum of Understanding other healthcare professionals,
(MoU) to jointly build an international innovative community paramedical staff, technicians,
of medical device and value chain for the purposes of benefiting engineers, and researchers. The
human health. The President of China Pakistan Medical Association training programmes will be
(CPMA), Dr Muhammad Shahbaz signed the MoU with University designed in consultation with
of Shanghai for Science and Technology in Shanghai. The purpose of leading doctors/experts, mainly
this MoU is to jointly build from the All India Institute of
an international Medical Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at
Technology & Training New Delhi, Jodhpur, and other
Centre for high-end medical prestigious medical colleges. It is
equipment and innovation. planned to induct the first batch
Under the MoU each party of trainees in April/May 2022
can be given opportunities with some of the basic training
to display its innovative simulators, which are widely
medical device projects and available in the open market,
projects to promote the whereas advanced surgical
alignment and application robots will be inducted in the
of innovative projects and next phase.
products. CPMA vision is
to provide a platform for the Pakistani medical students and doctors
to excel in the field and communicate internationally with medical
institutes, hospitals, nursing and paramedical institutes, research and
training centres, IT, R&D, pharmaceutical industries and government
institutions at one platform.

48 SUPPLIER NEWS

BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | www.biospectrumasia.com

Merck unveils Agilent brings
ColorWheel flow cytometry
antibodies and dyes enhanced solutions

Merck has announced the launch of its new for biotherapeutics
ColorWheel flow cytometry portfolio, utilising a
proprietary technology optimised for flow cytometry Agilent Technologies has announced the
that allows users to independently select antibodies new Agilent 6560C Ion Mobility LC/Q-TOF,
and dyes for assembly in any desired combination. enhancements to the VWorks automation
The output of these mix-and-matched antibodies and software suite, and new AssayMAP large
dyes is analogous to a primary conjugated antibody. capacity cartridges. The products improve the
The ColorWheel portfolio addresses the fact that analysis of proteins and peptides to speed up the
multiplexing in flow cytometry can be a puzzle that development of new protein-based therapeutics
researchers must piece together, which includes the in biopharma. The new Agilent products address
configuration of the instrument, balancing antigen specific stages of the development workflow,
expression with dye brightness, and antibody-dye from sample preparation to secure protocols,
combination availability. If it is not possible to fit all and software to complex protein structural
these factors into one experiment, researchers need to analysis. The 6560C Ion Mobility Q-TOF adds
compromise - but this solution puts more flexibility, new capabilities that enhance flexibility and
productivity and control into their hands to overcome performance over its predecessors for more
these constraints. ColorWheel antibodies and dyes precise measurements of large protein complexes
make it easier to build a new multiplex assay for such as biotherapeutic antibodies and large
samples with varying expression levels of antigen. One protein assemblies. VWorks 14.1 offers seamless
may simply mix and match antibodies and dyes at the adoption of automation and the Bravo platform
bench, in a ready-to-use, convenient format that fits into regulated environments to improve sample
what is best for the sample and the instrument, with throughput, enhance reproducibility and
the least amount of time and effort, and removing the reduce errors. The AssayMAP large capacity
need for any labelling kits. cartridges extend the portfolio of available
chemistries with the introduction of Protein A
affinity purification cartridges and reversed-
phase cartridges for antibody enrichment and
peptide cleanup, respectively. The products
enable automated sample preparation upstream
of multiple critical quality analyses across the
biotherapeutic development process.

Thermo Fisher advances Proteomics
through new analytical instrument solutions

Thermo Fisher Scientific research. The company workflows at scale.
Inc. has announced is extending its co- Also, the company is
innovative proteomics marketing agreement launching Vanquish Neo
solutions and a series with Biognosys, a leading Ultra-High Performance
of co-marketing developer of next- Liquid Chromatography
agreements with industry generation proteomics (UHPLC) System that
experts, advancing solutions, to provide complements high-
the throughput, laboratories performing resolution Thermo
comprehensiveness high-throughput plasma Scientific Orbitrap
and quality of analysis with innovative mass spectrometry for
proteomics workflows and streamlined proteomics analyses,
for applications such instruments, kits and minimising sample
as single-cell studies software to enable loss and delivering the
and translational efficient and accurate highest quality of data.

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BIOSPECTRUM | DECEMBER 2021 | www.biospectrumasia.com

Stilled progress in Diabetes Care
2021 marks the 100th anniversary of
discovery of insulin, which transformed 2045, 783 million adults will be living with diabetes
the treatment of diabetes from a death – or one in eight adults. This would be an increase
sentence to a chronic condition. The first insulin of 46 per cent, more than double the estimated
preparation developed in 1921 was capable of population growth (20 per cent) over the same
consistently lowering blood glucose. But even now, period. The report estimated the number to be 74
blood glucose control with insulin in diabetics is million adults in India or one in 12 adults suffering
nearly universally suboptimal, with essentially from diabetes. This takes India to second place
the same molecule still delivered by the same just behind China (141 million) in terms of people
inappropriate subcutaneous injection route. diagnosed with diabetes across the globe.

A century after it was discovered, insulin still Considering the alarming situation, on November
remains out of reach for many people living with 28, China’s latest centralised drug procurement
diabetes, the World Health Organisation (WHO) work has preliminarily selected 42 insulin products,
said in a report published on November 12 to resulting in an average price cut of 48 per cent,
commemorate the milestone anniversary. Insulin is according to the National Healthcare Security
the ‘bedrock’ of diabetes treatment, and the WHO is Administration. The products, from 11 domestic and
working with countries and manufacturers to expand foreign-invested companies, cover 16 varieties of
access to everyone who needs it. second and third-generation insulin commonly used
in clinical treatment. The first batch of approximately
“The scientists who discovered insulin 100 years 210 million doses of insulin ordered by medical
ago refused to profit from their discovery and sold institutions across the country will be purchased
the patent for just one dollar,” said Tedros Adhanom under the programme, saving an estimated 9 billion
Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO and added yuan (about $1.4 billion) in costs.
“Unfortunately, that gesture of solidarity has been
overtaken by a multi-billion-dollar business that has It is the first time by any country in the world
created vast access gaps.” where the national centralised drug procurement
programme has included biopharmaceuticals,
According to a paper published on PubMed.gov, marking a milestone in the reform of the programme.
current research and development in diabetes has The centralised procurement of insulin will bring
seen some innovations, but none of these have truly tangible benefits to diabetics by lowering medicine
been game-changing. Currently, three multinational prices, as they require the long-term use of insulin
companies control over 95 per cent of global insulin to control their blood sugar. India, with 102 insulin
supply. The inclusion of insulin on the WHO’s brands from both local and global companies in
Prequalification Programme is an opportunity to the market, should also look at implementing such
facilitate entry of new companies into the market. programmes to support diabetes patients.
Many governments lack policies on the selection,
procurement, supply, pricing and reimbursement of On October 25, the Indian drug price regulator
insulin. Moreover, mark-ups in the supply chain also National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)
affect the final price to the consumer. fixed the ceiling prices for 12 anti-diabetic generic
medicines, including Glimepiride tablets, glucose
On November 2, 2021, the International Diabetes injection and intermediate acting insulin solution to
Federation (IDF) released new figures showing make it possible for every Indian to afford medical
that 537 million adults are now living with diabetes treatment against diabetes.
worldwide - a rise of 16 per cent (74 million) since
the previous IDF estimates in 2019. Released in The challenges affecting access to insulin are
advance of World Diabetes Day on November 14, complex and require a wide range of solutions. Given
these new findings highlight the alarming growth in that 2021 marks the centenary of the discovery of
the prevalence of diabetes around the world. The new insulin, there is a need for global advocacy to ensure
figures are taken from the upcoming 10th Edition of that the benefits of insulin and innovations in diabetes
the IDF Diabetes Atlas, which will be published on care reach all those suffering from diabetes.
December 6.
Narayan Kulkarni
The latest IDF Diabetes Atlas reports that by Editor

[email protected]