CATEGORIES

First satellite bioanalytical lab offers fastest option for PBMC processing in Australian clinical trials

On 09 September 2022, Australia will welcome its first ever bioanalytical laboratory inside a Phase 1 clinical unit.

Invincible Diabetes Turns APAC Into Pharma Goldmine“?

There are over 235 million diabetic patients in Asia. China and India account for almost half of the world’s diabetic population. By 2030, without intervention, both China and India combined will have nearly half a billion diabetics. These are grim figures but for pharma firms, they represent a huge opportunity, and big pharma firms are spending billions in search of the next blockbuster drug for diabetes, according to the estimates from Singapore-based Asian Diabetes Prevention Initiative (ADPI). The diabetes care drugs market is highly fragmented in Asia Pacific (APAC) region with a few major manufacturers gaining presence in major countries of the APAC market, while the remaining market comprises other local or region specific manufacturers. Mergers and acquisitions that happened between players in the recent past helped companies strengthen their market presence, as well as drive innovations, helping the diabetes drugs market to increase in the APAC region. Let’s look at who owns the more significant piece of the pie and the competitive landscape of diabetes treatment in the region.

BioSpectrum Asia sets the tone for Excellence Awards 2022 on December 2 in Singapore

To appreciate the Asian companies and individuals for their commendable performance and achievements during Calendar Year (CY) 2021, and noting that Asia is the new hub for potential growth and innovation, BioSpectrum Asia is setting the tone for an exciting opportunity in the form of BioSpectrum Asia Excellence Awards 2022.

“We are seeing a shift towards localisation of supply chains from innovation to manufacturing and production’

For developers of cell and gene therapies (CGT), translating a drug from a biologic concept to a scalable and manufacturable F(CGT), translating a drug from a biological concept to a scalable and manufacturable treatment can be the largest challenge in achieving commercial success.

Insilico Medicine raises $95M from Aramco’s Prosperity7 Ventures

Hong Kong-based startup Insilico Medicine, a clinical-stage end-to-end artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery company, has completed a second closing of its Series D round, led by Prosperity7 Ventures, the diversified growth fund of Aramco Ventures, bringing the total Series D financing to $95 million.

Carlyle to invest ¥7B, pick up minority stake in Japanese MedTech CureApp

Global investment firm Carlyle has announced a strategic partnership with CureApp, Inc., a leading Japanese medical technology startup and prescription digital therapeutics provider, through an acquisition of a significant minority stake in the company.

Everest Medicines, Gilead announce $455M oncology deal for Asian rights

China-based Everest Medicines has entered into an agreement with Immunomedics, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of California-based Gilead Sciences, Inc., whereby Immunomedics will obtain exclusive rights to develop and commercialise Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan) in Greater China, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Mongolia.

Wipro GE Healthcare & Boston Scientific to offer advanced heart care in India

Wipro GE Healthcare, a medical technology, diagnostics and digital solutions innovator, has announced its collaboration with Boston Scientific, a medical device manufacturer to provide end-to-end innovative interventional cardiac care solutions in India.

AstraZeneca signs MoU to empower breast cancer community in Singapore

AstraZeneca Singapore has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Breast Cancer Foundation (BCF) to improve the overall breast cancer awareness, detection rates, and patients’ access to breast cancer treatment in Singapore.

NZ evaluates Māori Influenza and Measles vaccination programme of 2021

The Ministry of Health in New Zealand, which oversees the Maori Influenza and Measles Vaccination Programme (MIMVP) has released a report on its findings for 2021, identifying which initiatives worked and what could be improved in future.

Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine receives approval for adolescents in Asian region

Novavax’s manufacturing partnership with Serum Institute of India

Singapore grants interim authorisation for AstraZeneca's antiviral mAb Evusheld

ANTIBIOTIC

India approves Corbevax as first heterologous COVID-19 booster shot for 18+

ANOTHER IMMUNITY VACCINE

Autoimmune Diseases - Taming The Enemy Within

Autoimmune diseases are one of the hot targets in the pharma industry. There has been a flurry of activities in this space in recent times. While immunosuppressants and steroids have typically been used to treat these diseases, targeted therapies are advancing. By aiming at specific genes or cells, researchers can boost effectiveness and reduce side effects associated with conventional treatments. Let’s look at some of the advances in the battle against autoimmune diseases:

Expanding Toolbox Spurring Opportunities

Synthetic biology encompasses myriad technologies combining life sciences, engineering, and chemistry to improve, optimise, or enable the de novo design of artificial cells, organisms and cellular pathways.

'Lack of sufficient capacity is a greatest challenge facing the biomanufacturing industry today'

Univercells Technologies, incorporated in Belgium in 2020 with the support of the Univercells group, is a global provider of innovative biomanufacturing technologies to achieve cost-effective viral production from R&D to commercial scales.

'Growing demand for low-cost remote patient monitoring services, CIS & EMRs will propel digital healthcare platform adoption'

On July 25, 2022, Healthcare Triangle, Inc (HCT), a healthcare information technology company focused on cloud innovative solutions, data science, and data analytics platforms for the healthcare and life sciences industry announced the launch of its Singapore unit with a focus to bolster digital healthcare in Singapore and across the Asia Pacific.

'Asia is constantly strengthening its digitisation and connectivity, making it an attractive market to invest in'

Eppendorf, a leading global company, catering instruments, consumables, solutions and services for life science institutes and businesses worldwide recently inaugurated its new subsidiary in Singapore’s Biopolis Science Centre.

INCUBATORS IGNITING BIOSCIENCE ECOSYSTEM

Incubators and accelerators are driving small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Asia through the development of novel therapeutics and encouraging innovations and commercialisation. Biotechnology incubators provide a stimulating environment that attracts investors, talent, and companies to collaborate on research, thereby fostering industry growth. While the appetite for laboratory space is constantly growing among biotech ventures, countries in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region are actively investing to construct life science hubs that foster innovation strategies and strengthen R&D capabilities. Let’s explore prominent startup incubators and accelerators in key APAC economies that are cultivating biotech innovations to create unicorns.

Drones - Providing Succour By UAVs

Drone technology has ceased to be just a mere fanciful and impractical aspect of Hollywood blockbusters, making headway into almost every aspect of modern industries and services. Naturally, healthcare isn’t far behind in leveraging this nifty and reliable tech to its advantage. Let’s see how deep has been the penetration of this aerial supply chain wonder gadget.

Eschewing Myopic Attitude Towards Eye Health

Direct costs of myopia in Asia alone have been estimated at $328 billion every year, with an additional $244 billion in productivity losses associated with myopia.

Keeping Pace With Mutating Viruses

A surge in the pandemic has forced the pharma industry to deliver a wide-spectrum vaccine to fight mutation-prone SARS-CoV-2, pledging to prevent future outbreaks. WHO states that the most extensive vaccination campaign in history is providing prophylactic results by delivering more than 12 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, protecting 60 per cent of the global population as of June 2022. Now the next-generation COVID-19 vaccines are countering the challenge of enhancing the immune response to tackle the emerging COVID-19 variants. It is therefore imperative to remain vigilant and upgrade vaccine candidates to emerging virus sublineages. In order to gain a competitive position in the market, vaccine manufacturers are investing in advanced platform technologies. Let's take a closer look at some of these leading vaccines approved in APAC as broad spectrum virucide inhibitors.

Australia widens access to COVID-19 treatments

All Australians aged over 70 who test positive to COVID-19 will be able to access antivirals on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

Mylab launches COVID-19 test to detect all variants in 20 seconds

Indian startup Mylab Discovery Solutions and USbased Hemex Health, a medical diagnostic device company focussed on creating diagnostics to transform frontline healthcare, have announced the official launch of the Gazelle PathoCatch COVID-19 FIA test, their collaborative diagnostic solution for point-of-care (PoC) testing in India.

Fujifilm invests $1.6B to expand global offering of cell culture manufacturing services

Japan-based Fujifilm Corporation has announced the investment of $1.6 billion to enhance and expand the cell culture manufacturing services of Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a subsidiary of Fujifilm Corporation, and world-leading contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO).

Athenex sells Chinese API business for $19M

Athenex, Inc., a global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development, and commercialisation of novel therapies for the treatment of cancer and related conditions, has announced that Athenex and certain affiliates have entered into an agreement to sell all of its equity interests in its China subsidiaries, which are primarily engaged in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) manufacturing operations, to TiHe Capital (Beijing) for RMB 124.4 million, or approximately $19 million.

Thailand’s innovative ‘Detachable and Dissolvable Microneedles’ to boost telemedicine

Researchers at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand have developed an innovative ‘Detachable and Dissolvable Microneedle’ that makes injections easy and painless for everyone, while also significantly reducing medical wastes.

“The concept of anti-ageing should, therefore, include youth preservation as part of its objective”

Operating in approximately 50 markets worldwide in the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Pacific, Nu Skin is revolutionising the industry with products that offer comprehensive anti-ageing concerns. By targeting the ultimate sources of ageing, Nu Skin’s ageLOC products dramatically diminish the appearance of ageing. Backed by more than 35 years of scientific research, Nu Skin develops innovative products including Nu Skin personal care, Pharmanex nutrition and the ageLOC anti-ageing brand, which includes an award-winning line of beauty device systems. To find out more about the company’s expertise in the area of anti-ageing, BioSpectrum Asia spoke to Joseph Y. Chang, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President- Product Development, Nu Skin Enterprises. With over 35 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and dietary supplement industries, Dr Chang enjoys a comprehensive knowledge of both of these industries and serves as a member of the Executive Committee for Nu Skin Enterprises.

“Many countries in APAC lack digital infrastructure to store and process data efficiently”

GE Healthcare, soon to become an independent public company in 2023, is poised to achieve even greater speed and agility in its response to the industry’s needs. This includes their efforts in advancing Precision Health, a key priority in Singapore’s healthcare reform plan to refocus the sector on patient-centred preventive care. BioSpectrum Asia spoke to Chris Khang, President & Chief Executive Officer (ASEAN, Korea and ANZ), GE Healthcare at length on how the company is strengthening digital healthcare in Asia Pacific (APAC). Edited Excerpts;

“Unique demands of CGT biomanufacturing necessitate an early-stage collaboration between suppliers and biomanufacturers”

A surge in pharmaceutical R&D has led to an increase in the number of Cell & Gene Therapy (CGT) candidates being developed. The goal has been to develop cost-effective and efficient cell and gene therapies while focusing on biomanufacturing innovations. It’s now becoming essential to outsource manufacturing services that can leverage innovative cuttingedge biomanufacturing technologies to enhance efficiency and flexibility in CGT. Narayana Rao, Vice President of Biopharma, Asia Pacific MiddleEast Africa at Avantor interacted with BioSpectrum Asia and shared his insights on Asia’s CGT Biomanufacturing ecosystem. Edited excerpts;