Taiwan’s success story in combating COVID-19

COVID-19 has unravelled the potency and the feebleness of most geographical region’s healthcare, technical, social and political structure. While countries are anticipating various dimensions to tackle coronavirus and combat the pandemic, Taiwan’s success in controlling COVID-19 has bolstered its global standing despite the close geographical proximity with China. The resilient island aggregated its forces to tackle the virus and circumstances rationally with well-established pandemic control strategies, bio medical assets, advanced IoT capabilities, impeccable healthcare system and a well organised political force. Taiwan apparently grappled the coronavirus incredibly well and is now keen to offer medical and technical assistance to other countries in this global crisis.

“We will launch products within next 2-3 years”
Jielun Zhu,“We will continue to invest in our
India business” Luca Visini,...

CELEBRATING WOMANHOOD ON EQUAL NOTE

 As nations around the world celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, with the theme #EachforEqual, the number of companies that have had women in a leadership role continues to expand. But the list is still relatively short, and even when women have made it to power, they have rarely led for a long time. Globally women at leadership position are very less and only 4.9 per cent of Fortune 500 companies have women at leadership position.

 Indeed, women are getting stronger and more engaged in careers, with age no bar. Some are taking greater risks, often to make a greater impact. Some have just stepped into the waters, while some have made it big through their hard work and determination. Celebrating the power of womanhood, BioSpectrum has profiled leaders from Asia Pacific, entrepreneurs, and family business heiress in the life sciences industry, who are yet to achieve a milestone of reaching the top position, but are already adding to the company in ways that enrich it.

Taiwan’s Medical Tourism Gaining Popularity  

Taiwan is emerging as a favourable medical tourism destination, which is being driven by competitive costs, the abundance of high quality hospitals and doctors and the country’s geographical proximity to Asian countries.

ACT TIMELY

In 2019, we saw Asia developing itself into a major hub for medtech and biopharma activities for both local as well multinational companies. Biotech companies in the region entered into partnerships with leading global biopharmaceutical companies on both the R&D and commercial fronts. Now, as we enter into 2020, the industry plans to further rise in the medtech, biopharma and startups space within Asia focusing on applied research, new technologies, affordability and manageability.

Collaboration – Sustainable Solution for Big (Pharma & Tech)

 

According to an EY report, between 2013 and 2017, Alphabet (Google’s parent company) filed 186 health-related patents, Microsoft – 73 and Apple – 54, which is a 38 per cent increase in the number of such patents by these three companies every two years. The report further noted that such a competition poses a new challenge to pharma, and argued that health companies should capitalise on the data they gather to create digital solutions helping patients with their health. Many of the challenges that healthcare industry can be solved with the availability of state-of-the-art digital health solutions. Moving forward it will become imperative for pharma and tech firms to collaborate and this joint collaboration will create a new market that has more than enough potential for both sides.

Needs much more for world without diabetes

                    

Diabetes is on the rise across the globe as reported in the most recent 8th edition of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Diabetes Atlas 2017.  As Diabetes is a lifestyle disease, it can be prevented by adopting appropriate lifestyle. This is what the evidence from studies conducted in the USA, Finland, China, India and Japan have proved. However, the pharma industry has been investing on R&D and launching new products but needs much more. From January 2019 to October 31, 2019, the US FDA has approved three products for type 2 diabetes (two drugs Rybelsus and Victoza from Novo Nordisk and one drug – Farxiga from AstraZeneca).

Improved regulatory support push Clinical Research in Asia

 

 

The prevalence of infectious and tropical diseases is creating an unmet clinical needs in emerging countries. Owing to these, a large number of the population participate in clinical trials to access high-quality healthcare free of cost. India and China have the highest prevalence rates for metabolic disorders, due to the increasing population, combined with the prevalence of insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia, and obesity. Besides the Asian region has the potential for large patient recruitment, cost reduction, the improved regulatory environment making it a favourable destination for clinical trials.

Asia building on biologics manufacturing  

After being a hub for generics drugs, Asia is now looking to capture the biologics market. The biologics manufacturing market size will grow by $ 36.58 billion during 2018-2022 and is expected to post a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than nine per cent during the forecast period, according to a new report by Technavio. The market is driven by the growing awareness about their benefits in treating conditions that are hard to treat with conventional medicine. A key factor driving the growth of the market is the introduction of new biologic drugs for treating diseases. The demand for biologics for the more effective treatment of diseases is growing as synthetic drugs have several limitations. Therefore, the development of new biologics for the treatment of existing disorders and rare conditions is expected to fuel the growth of the biologics manufacturing industry. Asia has more than 300 biologics drugs under investigation.

Stem cells gaining importance 

 

Stem cell research stands as a high-priority field in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) and investment in these facilities are growing in order to increase competitiveness in the free market so that clinical applications can be continually discovered. Stringent regulations in Western Europe and the USA in stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine have driven the APAC to grow at the highest rate in this industry. Stem cell therapy is a hot topic in the field of medicine and is growing at a fast pace, BioSpectrum takes a look at how this exciting field is faring in the APAC region.

India – Japan: Focus on Ease of Doing Business

 

 

As India and Japan strive to provide affordable healthcare to its citizens, including addressing the challenges such as aging population, leaders of both the nations welcome the linking of Japan’s Asia Health and Well-being Initiative (AHWIN) with India’s healthcare initiatives such as Ayushman Bharat, by introducing affordable technology, skill development and best practices in healthcare through reciprocal and mutually beneficial approaches. Added to it, Indian Prime Minister has approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Japan on Development of Advanced Model Single Window in January this year, which will facilitate more investments into India.

ASIA-PACIFIC: MODEST RISE IN HEALTHCARE DEALS

Healthcare private equity tends to be less vulnerable to downturns than other sectors, so it expects demand for assets in Asia-Pacific to increase over the coming years. Buyout funds will invest more in growth-stage assets such as Chinese pharma. And as companies explore ways to increase access to healthcare, emerging trends, such as digital healthcare solutions, should gain steam in China, India and other countries. Investors will continue to seek deals in the provider and medtech sectors, and explore creative ways to deploy capital, such as public-toprivate takeovers. Baker McKenzie Global Transactions Forecast predicts a modest rise of 7 per cent in deals to $331 billion in 2019, as a number of cross-border and domestic megadeals are set to close.

3Ps augmenting drug discovery in APAC

Beyond meeting the needs of global pharma in simply providing access to patient pools and lower operational costs, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is also poised to realize the potential of a thriving biotechnology sector that is driving innovation on its own. APAC is gaining the experience and infrastructure needed to support the global biotech industry by performing work and fostering innovation through public private partnership (3Ps) that is moving up the pharmaceutical value chain.

Asia capitalizing on digital tech innovations

Digital technology is becoming central to the future growth of the healthcare sector globally.  Healthcare companies around the world are now taking advantage of the new and exciting technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, machine learning, 3D- bioprinting and blockchain to create value for patients, clinicians, and shareholders alike.  Currently, Asia is entering a zone of grim reality where age and chronic conditions affect ever-growing masses of its populations. It has become obvious that Asia cannot resolve its healthcare challenges without the intervention of these new age technologies.

According to CBInsights, Venture Capitalists invested more than $2 billion in healthcare AI startups in 2018, a dramatic rise when compared to the $100 million invested just five years ago. With this rate, deep Learning and its applications in medical imaging and diagnostics are expected to hold the major share of the market in the coming years. Remaining resilient to the inevitable AI based technological revolution, Asia is capitalizing on this opportunity and investing in innovations likewise. Asian enterprises see AI as a complete disruptive force across technology, industry, product, go-to-market, academic, and economic dimensions. On the occasion of World Health Day, being celebrated on April 7, 2019, BioSpectrum Asia covers 25 innovative health tech startups bringing unique AI and robotics based healthcare solutions across China, India, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and Australia.

Rising Bio Entrepreneurs of JAPAC   

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Gender Gap Report, women are falling behind after a decade of progress. The report states that 217 years are needed to close gender gaps in economic and political spheres. The report also notes that in order to strengthen women’s economic empowerment, women entrepreneurship should be supported.

Asia is not better or worse for women entrepreneurs. Raising funding for women entrepreneurs is hard everywhere, and in Asia, women face more blunt discrimination and straight-out biased questions at pitch meetings.  Against all odds, a large number women in Singapore, China, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Australia are successfully working on their own ventures. BioSpectrum Asia has compiled profiles of 28 such achievers in the field of life sciences and related healthcare sectors who have successfully developed their startups in the above mentioned fields in the past 6 years.

Innovation taking root in Cancer Care

Technological advancements are revolutionizing the healthcare industry all around the globe. China, South Korea and India with their huge population and healthcare challenges are emerging as biotech clusters with many notable startups in the region. New entrepreneurship communities have also emerged in Malaysia and Indonesia. Not far behind, Singapore and Taiwan have been investing heavily to carve their niche in this industry by encouraging entrepreneurs and developing their local talent pool. In the recent times, a large number of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) relying startups have emerged in these countries and cancer is one condition few startups are putting their bets on

Health 4.0 boosts Asia MedTech, Bio-pharma in 2019

 

Asia is a region of stark contrasts, with approximately 4.5 billion people – some 60 per cent of the world’s population – living in countries with a rich diversity of economic, political, and demographic constituents. In the coming year Asia will become a major hub for MedTech and Bio-Pharma activities for both local as well multinational companies. 

Biotech companies in the region are also actively partnering with leading global biopharmaceutical companies on both the R&D and commercial fronts. Asset-level partnership remains very active during 2019. According to McKinsey Asia has the potential to leapfrog in the digital-health segment. Asia has an opportunity to take the lead in developing big data/advanced analytics solutions and technology platforms, with the potential to contribute to the global healthcare ecosystem.

2018: APAC ADOPTS ACCESSIBLE HEALTHCARE PROGRAMMES

Despite the rising pressures to decrease healthcare costs, the healthcare industry in Asia-Pacific (APAC) was expected to grow at 12.5 per cent in 2018, making it one of the fastest growing regions in the world, as the global healthcare economy averages an annual growth rate of 4.8 per cent, according to Frost & Sullivan Asia-Pacific Healthcare Outlook report released on January 19, 2018. Private Health Insurance, Medical Tourism, Healthcare Provider Infrastructure, Imaging Analytics, Patient Monitoring Platforms, Mental Health, Regenerative Medicine, Biosimilars, Cloud and Artificial Intelligence and many other areas are transforming industry business models, with technology and data transparency being the key enablers

South Korea – leading biosimilars opportunities for Asia

Historically, Asia has led in generics adoption and now, with more than 300 biosimilars under development, Asia is one of the leading regions for global biosimilars development. The foundations have been laid for the biosimilar industry in Korea, providing an opportunity for the region to become a global center for manufacturing and adoption of biosimilars in the next few decades.  Just as Indian companies have carved out a leading position in the generic drug market, South Korean companies are poised to take leading positions in the biosimilars industry in the coming years.

BSA

Asia’s CRO market on the rise

A Frost & Sullivan’s recent report forecasts a growth rate of 19.9 per cent for the contract research organizations (CROs) industry in Asia Pacific (APAC) region in the period between 2015 and 2020, while the CRO market in North America is expected to grow only at 10.4 per cent CAGR. With a fast-growing pharma market, large treatment-naïve population, highly skilled and internationally acclaimed investigators, high-quality data, and harmonized regulations, APAC has become a preferred outsourcing destination for clinical trials.

STEM CELLS: FRAMING
THE FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE

Stem cells are believed to have the ability to divide without limit and to give rise to specialized cells. Stem cell research is an exciting yet complex and controversial science. It holds the promise of helping us better understand the most fundamental processes of cellular specialization and human development, and many nations have therefore invested heavily in stem cell research and its applications. Stem cell research is one of the most exciting areas of the 21st century science and has the potential to revolutionize the way we treat conditions, including regenerative diseases for which few effective treatments currently exist. There is
a lot of hope invested in this field by researchers, governments and the general public

ACCELERATING IVD INNOVATIONS

The increasingly ageing population, need for rapid diagnostic results, emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases, and growing lifestyle disorders are expected to accelerate the IVD market. IVD market is constantly evolving. Mega trends such as consolidation, automation, and reimbursement policies affect every aspect of the market. The growing importance of diagnostics in patient care is expanding beyond hospitals and laboratories to homes, long term and chronic care, and other segments in healthcare. Apart from the major trends in IVD, there are other key trends like growing digitalization of healthcare to enable a more efficient patient care continuum.

EMERGING HOTSPOT FOR BIG PHARMAS
ASEAN is growing, and growing with it is the region’s pharma sector. With growth in developed markets flattening, pharma industry is betting on lucrative ASEAN markets for profits. Think of Asia’s emerging markets and the instant names that appear are India and China. Undoubtedly, these are huge markets for the industry. But apart from these main markets, ASEAN’s emerging markets, with an annual growth rate of 11 per cent and huge untapped potential, provide a massive
opportunity for big pharma to expand and grow in this region.

BioSpectrum Asia June 2018 
ROBOTICS AND AI - FACE OF NEW HEALTH

Information technology development in healthcare has been rapidly moving from products to services to solutions. The present decade is one of medical platforms focused on real-time, outcome-based care. The next decade is moving towards medical solutions – using Artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and virtual and augmented reality – to deliver intelligent solutions for both evidence- and outcome-based health and focusing on collaborative, preventative care. This drastic confluence is leading to AI and robotics defining the face of new health.

BIOSIMILARS GAINING ACCEPTABILITY 

The expiration of patents and other intellectual property rights of biological innovators over the next decade opens the opportunity for biosimilars to enter the market and increase competition among producers of biologics. A number of new companies are expected to enter the biosimilars market worldwide, including big pharma, small biotech, and generic participants. Asia-pacific region has the maximum number of biosimilar products in development currently as compared to anywhere else in the world, leading to wealth of opportunities for investigators and patients interested in taking part in biosimilar clinical trials. India, Japan, South Korea, and China are particularly active in biosimilar research efforts.

Pharma Losing Billions to Patent Loss 
China Pharma Firms on buying Spree

Healthcare M&A outlook bright in 2018
 

Overall, Meager and Acquisition (M&A) in the lifesciences sector in Asia Pacific (APAC) is largely driven by domestic consolidation, which account for approximately 90% of the deals. Companies looking to increase customer base, optimize capacity, increase asset utilisation, combine R&D resources and expand distribution network are the key drivers of M&A in this sector. Complex regulations and restrictions for foreign ownership in many APAC countries are limiting the number of cross-border transactions. Hence, many global companies are forming strategic partnerships with regional and local players. Greater China has consistently contributed to more than half of the deal volume, followed by Japan, India and South Korea.

Asia needs a legal framework to combat rare diseases

An estimated 350 million people worldwide suffer from rare diseases and one in every 20 people are battling rare disease. Though most of these diseases are treatable, lack of a policy to support and foster the development of orphan drugs, is discouraging pharma companies from venturing into orphan operations. It is now time to look at the structural framework and devise a strategy to address this longstanding un-met medical need.

To raise awareness for rare diseases and improve access to treatment and medical representation for individuals with rare diseases and their families, Rare Disease Day has been observed on the last day of February each year since 2008. This year it will be observed on February 28. To generate more awareness about rare diseases and to emphasize the need for legal policies, BioSpectrum Asia analyses trends, opportunities and challenges in Asia’s orphan drug market.

Healthcare challenges drive unmet need for new and better medicines in APAC

The aging trends in Asia Pacific will continue to drive an increase in difficult-to-treat medical conditions such as cancer, and chronic diseases like heart diseases and eye diseases that are related to aging and diabetes. These healthcare challenges will continue to drive a high unmet need for new and better medicines. Hence,
driving and sustaining scientific innovation are becoming more important than ever – to reduce hospitalization, improve health and well-being and increase independence of seniors.

Women have been struggling to prove their prowess in every field and obtaining equal rights. The pharmaceutical and healthcare industry across the globe has long been dominated by men, a trait that is prevalent in other industries worldwide. Today, the industry is witnessing fantastic female leaders emerging at the top, who not only hold positions of power within some of the biggest pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, but are also coming up with innovative game-changing ideas and services. Their business acumen apart, these women add tremendous value in shaping their organisations. This increase is not, for the most part, due to any generic positive discrimination created by pharma companies, but a rapidly growing recognition of the talent and outstanding contribution women bring and will continue to bring in the future.

May 2020

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BioSpectrum Asia is a unique, integrated B2B media platform of print, digital, online and events. It engages its readers from Life-Sciences industry (Pharma, Biotech & Medtech) across the Asia Pacific region on a Monthly basis through its media product and updates its online presence www.biospectrumasia.com on a daily basis. BioSpectrum Asia, started originally as a Business Life-Science industry magazine with an objective to create a platform for growing Asia-Pacific life sciences and is today the largest distributed Pan-Asia Life Sciences industry magazine.

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BioSpectrum Asia - May 2020

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