Asia Healthcare Podcast

Simone Song was happily leading Goldman Sachs's healthcare investment banking for Greater China when the results of a health check changed her outlook in life. Wanting to dedicate the rest of her career to support innovative healthcare companies that are addressing the world's biggest diseases, she established ORI Capital, a venture capital firm focused on investing in innovative companies in the healthcare industry globally. Simone joins me this week to share about her journey, and ORI's investing philosophies. And also artificial intelligence. Topics we explored: - How Simone's health scare led her to leave banking to launch her own fund - What is ORI's investment approach? - How does venture capital investing contribute to grooming young healthcare/biotech companies? - How does ORI Capital use AI to find healthcare companies with a lot of potential? - Simone's advice for young startups Follow ORI Capital: Website – https://ori-capital.com/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/oricapital/about/ Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare Twitter: @jchanpharma Music from https://www.jeffcaylor.com/

Who wants to be a biotech journalist? Amber Tong, Senior Editor of Endpoints News, joins the Asia Healthcare Podcast to share her origin story and what it's like covering China healthcare. Topics we explored: - How did Amber get her start in journalism - First impressions of biotech reporting - What's fun versus not so fun about China biotech reporting - Our favorite reading material / source of biotech news and analysis for Asia - Comparing the interview styles of China vs US/Europe biotech executives - Advice for future journalists writing about healthcare Amber's latest special reports: Researchers in biotech, academia and Big Pharma are offering puzzle pieces to crack CAR-T for solid tumors. Will they ever snap together? Special report: Twenty extraordinary women blazing trails in biopharma R&D — Covid-19 and beyond Follow Endpoints News - https://endpts.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/endpoints/ Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! Website: https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare Twitter: @jchanpharma Email: asiahealthcarepodcast@gmail.com Music from https://www.jeffcaylor.com/

A serious heart infection caused by a supposedly rare non-pathogenic bacteria landed me in the hospital for a month. This is my story of how I survived a critical illness. Topics explored: - What is Infective Endocarditis (IE)? - What are the odds of getting IE? - What diagnostic tests did I undergo? - Why you should go to a private hospital for acute events - General tips for protecting yourself and staying healthy Useful links: Infective Endocarditis – National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/endocarditis-infective/ Heart Valves and Infective Endocarditis – Heart.org https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/heart-valve-problems-and-disease/heart-valve-problems-and-causes/heart-valves-and-infective-endocarditis Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! Website: https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare Twitter: @jchanpharma Email: asiahealthcarepodcast@gmail.com

Did you know that roughly only 2% of healthcare spending goes into diagnostic testing? And yet it informs the majority of our clinical decisions. Lance Little, managing director of Roche Diagnostics APAC and board member of APACMed joins me this week to discuss the pandemic preparedness of Asia’s healthcare systems, and the role of diagnostics in the future of healthcare. Topics we explored: - How has Asia responded to the pandemic so far? - What factors can really impact how well a country contain an outbreak? - Is our current healthcare system setup vulnerable to sudden shocks like pandemics? - Are we spending too little on healthcare diagnostics? - How can we build the healthcare systems that can withstand ‘shock events’ for the future? - Are we poised for a digital revolution in healthcare? Useful links: Building Regulatory Agility for Adequate Access to Quality SARS-CoV-2 Test Kits During the Global Pandemic The Critical Role of Diagnostics in COVID-19 Management Follow Roche Diagnostics APAC - https://www.roche.com.sg/ https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/rochediagnosticsasiapacific/ Follow Asia Pacific Medical Technology Association (APACMed): https://apacmed.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/asia-pacific-medical-technology-association/ Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! Website: https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare Twitter: @jchanpharma Email: asiahealthcarepodcast@gmail.com Music from https://www.jeffcaylor.com/

In 2015, Piers Ingram co-founded Hummingbird Bioscience, a clinical-stage biotech company in Singapore. Leading a team of interdisciplinary scientists, the company believes that there is a better way to deliver a new generation of transformative medicine: by harnessing powerful modern approaches to systems biology and data science to better understand disease mechanisms and how to treat these, through the development of rationally engineered bio-therapeutics. Piers joins us to talk about his experience in Asia and starting Hummingbird to develop drugs that go after 'hard targets' in cancer and autoimmune diseases. Topics we explored: - How Piers and Jerome met in Shanghai at an alumni event - Why start Hummingbird Bioscience? - Why target HER3 and VISTA in cancer drug development? - How competition and collaboration can both coexist in the biotech industry Follow Hummingbird Bioscience: Website – https://hummingbirdbioscience.com/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/hummingbird-bioscience/ Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare Twitter: @jchanpharma Email: asiahealthcarepodcast@gmail.com Music used with permission from https://www.jeffcaylor.com/

Ying Huang spent 9 years in drug R&D and 12 years as a biotech analyst. He signed up to be Legend Biotech's CFO, but 17 months later he was named CEO. In this episode, I catch up with Ying about his transition into CEO at Legend. We also talk about cilta-cel and the new clinical trial data the company will be presenting at this year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting, and his reflections on 2020. * Cilta-cel is an investigational chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy, formerly identified as JNJ-4528 in the U.S. and Europe and LCAR-B38M in China, that is being studied in a comprehensive clinical development program for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma and in earlier lines of treatment. Topics we explored: - Ying’s first impression of Legend Biotech at ASCO 2017 - Why Ying decided to join Legend - How has Frank’s departure impacted Legend and his transition as CEO - Cilta-cel’s (LCAR-B38M/JNJ-4528) development and expectations for ASH 2020 - Lessons from 2020 and his advice for future scientists Useful links: Legend Biotech Announces Leadership Transition Legend Biotech CEO detained in China as part of investigation 177 CARTITUDE-1: Phase 1b/2 Study of Ciltacabtagene Autoleucel, a B-Cell Maturation Antigen–Directed Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Therapy, in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma Follow Legend Biotech: Website – https://www.legendbiotech.com/index.php LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/legendbiotechco./ Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare Twitter: @jchanpharma Music from https://www.jeffcaylor.com/

As of this recording, we are on our way to hitting 45 million cases of Covid-19 worldwide, the majority of those have recovered but new cases are still rising in most countries and if anything, this year’s pandemic has really highlighted how vulnerable our healthcare systems can be. Even before the emergence of Covid-19, many countries faced challenges in providing equitable healthcare access to all of their population. Today on the show, we explore what healthcare systems in the APAC region look like and why it’s important for different stakeholders to work together to find ways to improve the system. In this episode, I am joined by Rachel Frizberg, Area Head of Asia Pacific for Roche Pharma. Originally from the UK, Rachel shares with us what led her to Asia, why she’s passionate about working with different decision makers to improve health equity in the region, and what does ‘futureproofing’ health care systems mean and what will it look like. Topics we explored: - Why chemical manufacturing was not Rachel's calling, and how she found her way to Roche in Asia - What makes health equity challenging in APAC - Differences in healthcare systems across Asia and finding opportunities to bring stakeholders to the table - Relationship building with trust, finding a common goal, and data-driven conversations - What is 'futureproofing' healthcare systems and how can it be achieved? Follow Roche's Futureproofing healthcare initiative: https://futureproofinghealthcare.com/ https://www.roche.com/about/priorities/personalised_healthcare/futureproof.htm Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! https://siryn.co/asia-healthcare-podcast https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare Twitter: @jchanpharma Music from https://www.jeffcaylor.com/

Science parks – sometimes called research parks, innovation parks, or hi-tech parks – exist to provide an open and collaborative environment for innovative companies to connect and potentially form partnerships to accelerate the research and development of technologies and solutions of the future. But what happens when a global pandemic forces the world into a state of physical distancing? Shonan Health Innovation Park (iPark) is one of the few science and technology ‘hotspots’ in Asia today. Founded in 2018, Takeda Pharmaceuticals transformed its previous Shonan research site into Shonan iPark to create an ecosystem for researchers, industry experts, venture startups, government, and academia to collaborate and co-create cutting-edge technology and health solutions for patients across the world. Toshio Fujimoto, GM of Shonan iPark, joins us to share what the park has accomplished in its first two years and how Covid-19 has impacted its operations this year. We were also delighted to have Rajeev Dutt, president and CEO of AI Dynamics, share with us why he decided to become a member of Shonan iPark and how it has helped his company transition into the biotechnology sector. Topics we explored: - What is the goal of the iPark and what benefits are there to becoming a part of the community? - What are the challenges to building a successful ecosystem? - What types of companies are at iPark and how do companies qualify to become a member? - How is iPark continuing the support its members during Covid-19? - Why is venture capital for the biotech sector so small in Japan? - Why startups such as AI Dynamics decided to join Shonan iPark - How has Covid-19 impacted fundraising activity for startups like AI Dynamics? Follow Shonan Health iPark: Website – https://www.shonan-health-innovation-park.com/en/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/shonan-health-innovation-park/ Follow AI Dynamics: Website – https://dimensionalmechanics.com/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/aidynamics/ Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! https://siryn.co/asia-healthcare-podcast https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare Twitter: @jchanpharma Music from https://www.jeffcaylor.com/

Just a quick update: - AHP lands on the 20th spot of a list of top healthcare podcasts. - Carrying out the mission of supporting Asia's healthcare industry. - Can you support the podcast? - Mulling a podcast website and video content. - Also testing out some music. Top 35 Healthcare Industry and News Podcasts By Health Professionals in 2020 [As of Jul 25, 2020] Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! https://siryn.co/asia-healthcare-podcast https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare Twitter: @jchanpharma

Alzheimer's disease is one of the world's leading causes of death, with 50 million people suffering from the disease worldwide. The global pharmaceutical industry has spent billions of dollars on drug R&D but 99% of clinical trials have failed. Part of the reason could be that most drug developers have focused on targeting beta amyloid, a protein that accumulates in the brain of Alzheimer's patients. This approach has not worked out so far, but scientists have been exploring other theories about the disease and developing treatments based on these other theories. Cerecin (formerly known as Accera) is a global healthcare company focusing on developing novel treatments for neurological disorders. Now based in Singapore, CEO Charles Stacey joins us to discuss the challenges of drug R&D in Alzheimer's disease, what is the 'energy theory', and what's next for the private biotech company. Topics we explored: - Why Charles left medical practice to enter the world of venture capital, investing in Cerecin, before now running the company himself - Why Cerecin rebranded from Accera and moved to Asia - The challenges of Alzheimer's disease drug R&D - What is the 'energy theory' behind Alzheimer's disease? - Axona, what is a 'medical food', and updates on the tricaprilin program Follow Cerecin: Website – https://www.cerecin.com/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/cerecin/ Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! https://siryn.co/asia-healthcare-podcast https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare Twitter: @jchanpharma Music from https://www.jeffcaylor.com/

Covid-19 has thrown the world into chaos, but the Asia Healthcare Podcast is back with some updates. We talk about the coronavirus outbreak, why you should sign up for a China newsletter from STAT News, and the latest from Hong Kong's very own Hutchison China MediTech (Chi-Med). Chi-Med is an innovative biopharmaceutical company aiming to become a global leader in the discovery, development and commercialisation of targeted therapies and immunotherapies in oncology and autoimmune diseases.We caught up with Chi-Med's CEO Christian Hogg, who was Chi-Med's first employee and has been with the company since 2000. Topics we explored: - Chi-Med's origin and Christian's first year with the company. - Why Chi-Med is focused on the China healthcare market. - Chi-Med's drug pipeline, and the role of partnerships. - How Chi-Med dealt with the Covid-19 China shutdown. - Christian's 20th year with Chi-Med and his favorite moment so far. Resources mentioned: STAT News website - https://www.statnews.com/ Sign up for the STAT China newsletter - https://www.statnews.com/signup/stat-china/ Follow Hutchison China MediTech (Chi-Med): Website – https://www.chi-med.com/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/hchimed/ Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! https://siryn.co/asia-healthcare-podcast https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare Twitter: @jchanpharma Music from https://www.purple-planet.com

Do you like to google your own symptoms before forcing yourself to see a doctor? Well I do, but I should know better so don't do it. Seriously though, in this day and age, it's pretty common for us to want to stay informed about our health (which is good), but to self-diagnose after reading online content from a google search is a step too far. According to a news report from November 2019, 2 out of 5 Americans do this, and I suspect we in Asia face the same temptations. Most people in North America would agree that websites like Mayo Clinic and WebMD are reliable sources for healthcare information, but where should we turn to in Asia? Enter Hello Health Group, a healthtech startup based out of Singapore. Chris Clarke, COO & SVP of Hello Health joins me in this episode to talk about why they want to democratize access to healthcare information in Southeast Asia, and just as importantly, how they are doing this one website at a time. Topics we explored: - How search engine aggregate data can help us understand what people are searching for, thereby identifying a population's gaps in knowledge. - How population search data can help various stakeholders (government, pharma, hospitals, etc) plan strategically to address unmet needs. - How to develop online healthcare content that is highly accessible and highly relevant to a population's search queries. - Data privacy concerns related to collecting people's online search activity. - Plans to personalize and customize online search experience to the individual level. Resources mentioned: Medtech Intelligence article - https://www.medtechintelligence.com/feature_article/the-future-of-diabetes-management-in-asia/ Healthline article - https://www.healthline.com/press/should-health-content-lead-or-follow Hello Health's Medical Tourism Platform - www.go.care Follow Hello Health Group: Website – https://hellohealthgroup.com/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/hello-health-group Chris’ email – chris@hellohealthgroup.com Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! https://siryn.co/asia-healthcare-podcast https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare Twitter: @jchanpharma Music from https://www.purple-planet.com

Soundbites from the International Diabetes Federation Congress 2019, held in Busan, Korea. Hear from Tommy Kim, Country Head of Roche Diabetes Care in Korea Tommy shares: - Diabetes epidemic numbers in South Korea - How our Asian culture and ‘consumer mindset’ for healthcare affects our health literacy and awareness - All stakeholders need to be transparent and work together to improve a country’s overall population management - Is Asia ready to adopt to innovation brought in from the West? Shared with permission from Roche Diabetes Care. Follow me on twitter @JChanPharma Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! https://siryn.co/asia-healthcare-podcast https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare

Soundbites from the International Diabetes Federation Congress 2019, held in Busan, Korea. Hear from Julia Mader, Associate Professor of Medicine (Endocrinology & Diabetology) at the University of Graz, Austria Prof. Mader discusses: - What is 2 vs 8760? - Challenges of continuous glucose monitoring back in 2005 - Does iPDM add to the physician’s workload? Does it improve the patient-physician relationship? - The importance of teaching patients the advantages of iPDM and using new technologies - How some patients find it hard to stick with iPDM and adhere to their diabetes management program - Disease outcomes of patients using iPDM vs patients sticking with traditional care - What's next for drug development for type 1 and type 2 diabetes Follow me on twitter @JChanPharma Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! https://siryn.co/asia-healthcare-podcast https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare

Soundbites from the International Diabetes Federation Congress 2019, held in Busan, Korea. Hear from Dr. Rolf Hinzmann, Head of Global Medical and Scientific Affairs in Glucose Monitoring and Science at Roche. Dr. Hinzmann talks about: - What is Integrated Personalized Diabetes Management (iPDM) - Why integrating data can generate important insights for patients and his/her stakeholders - Why do we have this tsunami of diabetes - How stakeholders, such as politicians, can play a role in addressing the diabetes problem Shared with permission from Roche Diabetes Care. Follow me on twitter @JChanPharma Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! https://siryn.co/asia-healthcare-podcast https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare

I'm in Busan, Korea for the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Congress. Short recap on how I ended up here on short notice (sorry for raw audio, and my morning voice), and what is Integrated Personalized Diabetes Management (iPDM). Special thanks to Roche Diabetes Care. Follow me on twitter @JChanPharma Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! https://siryn.co/asia-healthcare-podcast https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare

Abhishek Shah was a venture capitalist interested in the healthcare space. The problem of chronic disease in Asia really hit home when his parents were diagnosed with diabetes. Leveraging his experience in healthcare, consumer tech, and entrepreneurship, Abhishek set up Wellthy Therapeutics, a digital therapeutics company that helps people live healthier lifestyles and reduce their risk of chronic disease. - Tackling chronic conditions in a fragmented market - Why diabetes is the perfect condition to start with - How the Asian lifestyle and culture relates to the development of diabetes - Behavioral change happens when motivation meets ability meets trigger - How the app learns about your habits and helps report back to your physician - Getting support from different healthcare stakeholders - Wellthy’s expansion plans Follow Wellthy Therapeutics: Website – https://wellthytherapeutics.com/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wellthytherapeutics/ YouTube – https://youtu.be/NfaSkVxalq8 Abishek’s email – abhishek@wellthy.care Follow the Asia Healthcare Podcast! https://siryn.co/asia-healthcare-podcast https://anchor.fm/asiahealthcare Music from https://www.purple-planet.com

In 2011, Doug moved to China, worked three jobs (including clinical research in a military hospital), before starting his own company to help HealthTech startups find commercialization opportunities in China. We discussed: - Working in a Chinese military hospital, and learning the business of healthcare in the private sector - Setting up Beijing Health Forum and DHB Global - Mentoring with Chinaccelerator, Endeavor Global, and Antler - Questions to ask yourself when bringing your technology to China - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of China healthcare reform - How the prolonged trade war is impacting China healthcare investments - Belt and Road Initiative, Made in China 2025, Healthy China 2030 Follow Doug: DHB Global - https://www.dhb.global/ Twitter - @dcorleyne LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglascorley/ Learn more: 2019 USCIPP China Trek Beijing | Oct 15–18 - http://www.uscipp.net/chinatrek2019 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting; 21—24 Jan 2020 Davos-Klosters, Switzerland - https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2020 Leaders in Islamabad - https://twitter.com/leadersinisb?lang=en Chinaccelerator - https://chinaccelerator.com/ Endeavor Global - https://endeavor.org/ Antler - https://www.antler.co/ Peking University National School of Development; Prof Li Ling - http://en.nsd.pku.edu.cn/faculty/fulltime/l/239507.htm

Just a quick summary of China's National Reimbursement Drug List update, pulling in what I've read from the gov websites and Chinese media. China adds 148 drugs to key insurance list: state media - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-pharmaceuticals/china-adds-148-drugs-to-key-insurance-list-state-media-idUSKCN1VA1MG National Health Security Administration's Notice of the National Basic Medical Insurance Drug List (CHN) - http://www.nhsa.gov.cn/art/2019/8/20/art_37_1666.html

How did a New Yorker working in finance end up doing consulting with science and technology leaders in Southeast Asia? In this episode, I talk to Will Greene, founder of Tigermine, to discuss how he found his way into Asia's healthcare and technology scene: - Will’s journey to the East - Helping clients with investigative research and content development - Healthcare journalism, and how furiously note-taking at a medtech conference paid off - Working with Singapore Biodesign on Diabetes in Asia whitepaper - Asia’s Lab Diagnostics space Follow Will: Tigermine - https://tigermine.com/ LinkedIn - https://sg.linkedin.com/in/willgreene1 Twitter - @tigerminer Learn more: Singapore Biodesign - http://www.ssbiodesign.org/ Diabetes in Asia (whitepaper) - http://www.ssbiodesign.org/news-detail/64/ APACMed - https://apacmed.org/

In this first episode, I sat down with Brad Loncar to talk about the China biotech sector and more: - How did Brad get into biotech investing? - What are the differences between the U.S. and China biotech sector? How will HKEx and Shanghai's tech board reshape the IPO market? - How will China's drug pricing reforms impact global drug prices? - What is the 4+7 procurement pilot program? Are Chinese pharmas shifting towards innovation? - How will the ongoing trade war impact the industry? What is Brad's long term outlook for China biotech?

This pilot episode lays out the goal of the Asia Healthcare Podcast.