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;

“An effective biobank provides high-quality and affordable biospecimens to drive research, aiding live-saving scientific discoveries”

Since the beginning of COVID-19, numerous biobanks have emerged to facilitate studies of the virus and disease, how it spreads, and why some people are more susceptible than others. Biobanks also provide pre-COVID samples for biological comparisons and further research. Going beyond the pandemic, biobanks play a crucial role in all disease areas. For decades now, unique collections of material, serum, tissue, and a variety of cells have been stored to help researchers understand non-communicable diseases as well. There are many critical considerations for biobanks, especially because of the safety implications of preserving sample integrity.

IS INDUSTRY 4.0 PROMISING THE MOON?

As pharma grapples with rising complexity, costs and regulation, the sector is looking to industry 4.0 manufacturing as a solution. Smart factories managed with next generation technologies will lower pharma manufacturing costs, improve quality and reduce capacity constraints. Let’s look at how pharma is adopting industry 4.0.

How CDMOs are Adapting to New mRNA Tech Demands

From 2020, coinciding with the outbreak of COVID-19, there’s been a steady upsurge in demand for new technologies such as messenger RNA (mRNA). Contract development and manufacturing organisations (CDMOs) are compelled to rapidly expand capabilities to cater to this upsurge. Let’s see how CDMOs have prepared for the new wave of technologies on the horizon, and the challenges they faced in welcoming a new era of such technologies.

HOW IS BIOMANUFACTURING DRIVING CDMO MARKET?

A successful business model for the pharmaceutical industry is driven by the outsourcing trend, making contract development and manufacturing organisations (CDMOS) an integral component of drug development value chains. Increasing regulatory complexity, high development costs, and fierce competition have driven drug companies to leverage CDMOs to accelerate their go-to-market strategy, and Asia Pacific (APAC) is not an exception. Let's navigate through prime achievements and potential trends in the APAC CDMO arena which helped the world heal during the pandemic and is further helping to build a resilient health system.

Wuxi Biologics launches commercial drug product facility for PFS in China

The DP5 is the ninth operational drug product facility in the global network of Wuxi Biologics.

Australia recommends COVID-19 booster for eligible 12-15 year old

Other vaccines such as Spikevax (Moderna) and Nuvaxovid (Novavax) are not registered for use as a booster for this age group.

US picks interdisciplinary teams to address major challenges in cancer

Cancer Grand Challenges aims to provide multiple rounds of funding for multidisciplinary research teams from around the world whose novel ideas have the greatest potential to advance cancer research and improve outcomes for people affected by cancer.

CEPI, Oxford Vaccine Group evaluate fractional COVID-19 booster vaccines

Trial participants include those who already have received a primary regimen of two doses of CoronaVac at least six months prior to joining the study.

Why Indian Pharma Must Evolve As 'Value Creator'

As the third-largest drug producer in the world, India is already a major global pharmaceutical player. However, when it comes to the value of production, India ranks fourteenth. A deeper dive into the details reveals an important fact: India is the largest producer and supplier of generic medicines globally, delivering a 20 per cent share. India's pharmaceutical sector has the highest number of USFDA-approved manufacturing plants outside the USA, 3,000 pharmaceutical companies, a network of 10,500 manufacturing facilities and a rich talent pool. So, why does it lag so significantly in deriving value from its assets? Is there an opportunity for the Indian pharmaceutical industry to evolve in a way that moves India up on the value scale by increasing innovation - and what will it take? Let's find out.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea brings about a severe economic burden on the country

India has over 50 million sleep apnea patients, 80 per cent of whom are undiagnosed, as per the Lancet Respiratory Medicine 2019 study. Considering the prevalence, OSA brings about a severe economic burden on the country in such a situation. When it comes to COPD, it is the second leading cause of death worldwide, affecting more than 53 million from India. Due to the vulnerability of the lungs, COPD patients become prone to developing cardiovascular issues, and lung cancer, in case of acute exacerbations and even premature death.

Spending on TB control programmes had dropped to 2016 levels in 2020 and remains unchanged

Contrary to popular opinion, tuberculosis (TB) has not been eliminated in Singapore.

Regulatory bottlenecks such as local QC testing and pre-approval of GMP inspections must go

The APAC pharma and biopharma landscape is rapidly evolving and the market access landscape is increasingly turning complex with the intricate regulatory system.

Leveraging big data to create transparency, mitigate risks and operate in real-time is critical

With the innovation boom in Asia and many early-stage assets emerging, the time is ripe for Asian economies to establish cross-border business relationships by systematically tapping potential markets for successful market penetration.