HONG KONG IS WELL-POSITIONED to develop a vibrant and international biotech hub with its world-class universities, advanced research and development facilities and an exemplary ecosystem.
Policymakers, experts, academics, top enterprises’ executives, capital investors and others in biotech industry were seen at the BIOHK2024 convention, held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on September 11-14 this year.
More than 200 guests and 2,600 participants from around the world joined the large-scale biotech conference. A white paper will be submitted to Hong Kong’s government after collecting various opinions expressed by guests and experts in the convention.
[Watch our filmed highlights of the event below. And read some interesting comments under this YouTube video. And scroll down for more of our written report.]
Currently, Hong Kong is home to more than 250 biotech-related enterprises from around the world. These companies include healthcare firms which are involved in pharmaceuticals, traditional Chinese medicine, healthcare products, and medical devices and diagnostics.
As an international financial center, Hong Kong is a premier place for biotech companies seeking financing to grow, specialists said. The city has become the largest Initial Public Offering (IPO) hub for biotech firms in Asia and ranked second globally.
As of 2023, more than 120 healthcare and biotech companies have listed in Hong Kong’s stock market, raising more than HK$270 billion.
As home for top-tier universities, the rankings of six local universities have risen, with five of them in the world’s top 100 based on the latest QS World University Rankings–a record beaten by no other city in the world.
The University of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong also ranked high in Asia for life science and medicine area. Hong Kong has offered an integrated platform for life and health technology companies to innovate and grow from R&D to clinical trials and commercialization.
GOVT FUNDS 800 PROJECTS
Officiating the opening ceremony of BIOHK2024 convention, Professor Albert Yu Cheung-hoi (于常海教授), Chairman of Hong Kong Biotechnology Organization and BIOHK, said Hong Kong has served as a “super-connector” between China and the rest of the world and a “super value-adder” as its world-class financial and professional services provide an excellent environment for businesses based in Hong Kong.
Professor Yu said BIOHK will serve the role as a “super-connector” in biotech field.
At the ceremony, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Vice-Chairman and former Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said China has continued to comprehensively deepen reform and opening-up to the world, and this will benefit Hong Kong’s development.
Also, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Professor Sun Dong said Hong Kong is one of the largest fundraising hubs for the biotech sector.
“Hong Kong has continued to bolster its biotechnology ecosystem through several key initiatives,” Professor Sun said.
As of the end of April this year, the SAR government’s Innovation and Technology Fund has funded about 830 projects on the biotechnology front, including cutting-edge technologies like artificial “mini-hearts”, internally motorized minimally invasive robot surgeons, non-invasive prenatal diagnostic techniques and others.
He added the SAR government has earlier earmarked HK$10 billion for promoting the development of life and health technology.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong Investment Corporation Chief Executive Officer Clara Chan Ka-chai (陳家齊) said the SAR government has been positive towards the future development of biotech in Hong Kong.
“We literally live and breathe it every day because biotech could directly impact on our health and quality of life,” said Chan.
Data shows that in Hong Kong, the number of elderly aged 65 or above is projected to increase from around 20% of the total population in 2021 to around 32% in 2041.
“This trend speaks for the importance of biotech to us. Every single breakthrough in biotech provides new impetus for innovation and humanity, by way of , for example bringing public good by the development of higher quality drugs, vaccines and treatment at lower costs in the future,” Chan said.
Renowned molecular geneticist Professor Dennis Lo Yuk-ming, who is associate dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, highlighted advanced tests for nasopharyngeal cancer by utilizing next-generation sequencing technology. Professor Lo stressed that scientists will strive to enhance sensitivity for early stage cancer, demonstrate survival benefits and pursue cost reduction in future works.
Professor Lo is often referred to as the “father” of non-invasive prenatal testing, which uses a pregnant woman’s blood to check for disorders in a fetus.
In the ceremony, Jonathan Symonds, Chairman of GSK, said he believes there will be growth for biotech industry in the Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Hong Kong and GBA have been gateways for foreign investment to serve the whole China market, and they are a springboard to expand and accelerate Chinese R&D in biotech sector, he said.
CONNECTING THE PIECES
In one of the panel sessions on “International perspectives on Hong Kong as a biotech hub of the world”, Dr. Charles Hu (胡正忠博士), who is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ryoden Medical Holdings and Co-founder of Incando Therapeutics, said he believes there are a lot of opportunities for biotech development in Hong Kong.
Dr. Hu, who obtained his PhD in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, said: “I think we are still not there yet as being the primary biotech hub in the world. We still have lots of missing pieces. What I truly believe is that in Hong Kong, we have all the parts available.”
Dr Hu said, “I believe that the foundation and infrastructure are available. And people have to drive to make it successful and connect all the pieces together.”
“We have already had successful companies and these companies are contributing back to the ecosystem,” he said. “It is not just about science and capital, which are big components of the ecosystem. We have to look at academic partnership, we have to look at government partnership, we have to look at societal impacts and we have to give back to the society. All these come together to build the ecosystem,” he said.
Dr Hu has highlighted that Hong Kong needs more incubators like Science Park specializing in different aspects.
“I think what makes the US and Switzerland successful is they have incubators with different types,” he said. “We need to get the right people together to start having these conversations. We need to take next step to talk about integration between private and public sectors, and so forth,” he said.
In the panel discussion, Jonathan Symonds, chairman of GSK, said that Hong Kong has all the ingredients to create biotech system. He said in the UK, lots of data have been fully leveraged to identify patients and support high-risk patients, and data have been used for research and development.
From the UK experience, Hong Kong needs larger access to market and proceeds with clinical trials and access to datasets, Symonds said.
Also, Tristan Edwards, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Entheos Labs, said in Australia, the catalyst for biotech development is tax credit. The R&D tax incentive has been a game-changer for Australian biotech sector.
Edwards stressed that Hong Kong has numerous biotech startups and there are many global investors making investment in the industries. He added Hong Kong can be more proactive on fostering technology transfer to bolster biotech development.
Bettina Ernst, who is Vice President of the Swiss Biotech Association, has been optimistic about biotech development in Hong Kong. As Director of Bernina Bioinvest, Ernst is a biotech entrepreneur and she has been investing in healthcare companies over the past 10 years.
All images are from BIOHK2024.