COVID-19 has highlighted the cracks in our current healthcare systems, protocols, and policies. How can we address these vulnerabilities and what more can we look forward to in the years to come?
COVID-19 has highlighted the cracks in our current healthcare systems, protocols, and policies. How can we address these vulnerabilities and what more can we look forward to in the years to come?
As the pandemic exerts its impact on global healthcare, how can we use technology and data to support MedTech manufacturing and empower biomedical firms? In this interview, Mr Willson Deng, CEO of Arcstone, shares with us how digital technology will continue to revolutionise healthcare.
Are machines intelligent or are they just “intelligently” imitating humans? Dr. Mark Gooding highlights the difference, when it matters, and when it doesn’t in the field of healthcare.
An interview with Dr Goh Choo Beng, Head of Medical Affairs, Takeda APAC on unmet disease areas and the treatments and trials in the pipeline at Takeda.
An interview with Ruby E Dewi, General Manager of MediLux Biosciences, on tuberculosis’s prevalence in Asia, the young company’s mission to reduce the burden of infectious diseases, and how its novel dye would be a gamechanger for tuberculosis diagnosis.
To model or to function? Answering the million-dollar question of 3D bioprinting and regenerative medicine with leading experts in bioengineering and biomaterials.
An interview with Dr. Senthil Sockalingam, Head of IQVIA Biotech, JAPAC & Chief Medical Officer, APAC, IQVIA, on IQVIA’s expansion in the Asia-Pacific, its new innovative approach, Connected Intelligence™, and what it will mean for Asia going forward.
An interview with SIT’s Professor Lock Kai Seng, Associate Professor Steve Kardinal Jusuf, and Assistant Professor Sivaneasan Bala Krishnan on the institute’s initiatives to push for a more sustainable Singapore.
The 5th Future Food Asia conference was held virtually from 7 to 11 June 2021. As we gear up to deal with the impact of climate change, decision makers from leading agriculture and food corporations, influential investors, rising innovators and other key ecosystem players come together to generate new approaches to building the future of food.
An interview with Mr. Abel Ang, Group Chief Executive of Advanced MedTech, on how AbAsia Biolabs can help Singapore meet the growing demand for COVID-19 test kits.
Researchers led by Koh Kim Hwee and Tan Ngiap Chuan of SingHealth Polyclinic have revealed that less than 50 per cent of hypertension and dyslipidaemia patients in Singapore reach their blood pressure (BP) goals, attributing low success to complex medication regime.
An interview with Eric Mansion, General Manager of Asia Zone for Sanofi Pasteur, on the importance of vaccination and how a new vaccine plant can help to support vaccine access in Asia.
In this interview, Jeong Jae Youn, Country Manager for GE Healthcare Singapore & Emerging ASEAN provide insights to mammograms and ultrasound methods used for early detection of signs of breast cancer.
Research study that involved researchers from the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) together with their partners from Europe, Middle East, and South America. Findings affirmed that iron therapy significantly reduces heart failure hospitalisation and mortality in patients with acute heart failure (HF).
Research study conducted by SingHealth Polyclinics (SHP) in collaboration with NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine showed increasing willingness of patients in taking up tele-monitoring to manage their chronic health conditions.
Treatment of cancer first starts from the diagnosis stage to determine the right drugs and therapy for each patient. Biopsies are the most common diagnostic tool for identifying cancer types and specific mutations. In this interview, we hear from Dr Steven Olsen, CMO at Guardant Health AMEA to learn more about liquid biopsies and its applications as a cancer diagnostic tool and possibly tracking of cancer progression.
Study by Changi General Hospital, SingHealth Polyclinics and Abbott found that 80 percent of elderly in Singapore at risk of malnutrition have low muscle mass. Dr Agnes Siew Ling Tey, Senior Clinical Scientist, Nutrition R&D Centre for Asia Pacific, Abbott shares more on the study findings and how they will be used for application in future nutrition intervention to improve physical function and health of the elderly.
The ISPE Singapore Conference and Exhibition was held virtually on 9 to 11 December 2020. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the ISPE Singapore Affiliate. Highlights from the conference included developments in regulations and guidelines for the pharmaceutical industry and how ISPE adapted to COVID-19.
With the rise of paradigm shifting healthcare challenges and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare systems need to embrace new technologies to boost efficiency and improve quality of care for its patients. In this article APBN interviewed Fabrice Leguet, Managing Director and President, Southeast Asia for Siemens Healthineers to understand the technology gaps in healthcare as well as how Siemens Healthineers is helping to bridge these gaps.
Cloud data platform solutions company, Snowflake, has helped many organizations in various fields to embark on their own data-driven journey towards business advancement. Through the equipment of a single, integrated platform, Snowflake offers these organizations data analytics solutions to their business needs. With the rise of data-driven solutions to solve many issues in healthcare as well as to boost innovation, Geoff Soon, Managing Director of Snowflake, South Asia, shares with us how data analytics can help to push healthcare innovation to the next level.
Cybersecurity solutions company CyberArk, with offices across the world, it delivers targeted security measures to assist organizations in preventing cyber threats as well as how to deal with them. In this interview with Vincent Goh, Vice President for Asia Pacific and Japan at CyberArk, we take a look at how healthcare systems although vulnerable can be protected from cybersecurity threats.
Telehealth, big data and artificial intelligence have changed the way we experience healthcare, particularly this year. Their roles in the transformation of healthcare were discussed at the APACMed Virtual Forum 2020, which brought together MedTech industry experts, healthcare providers and physicians.
Having reviewed the data which has been presented and disclosed regarding the Sputnik V vaccine and commenting on the race to get a COVID-19 vaccine to patients, Professor Nadey Hakim, Vice President, International Medical Sciences Academy, President’s Envoy, Imperial College, London emphasises that it would be welcome to see cooperation between multiple different countries and producers, as we need a joined-up effort to succeed in the fight against COVID-19.
Professors from the Tokyo Institute of Technology present their latest work in various biotechnological fields, with applications in sustainable manufacturing, biofuel production, agriculture, and material science.
Digitalising various segments of the healthcare value chain over the past years is becoming more prevalent and accessible. Digital health has become ever more important in this year as the COVID-19 pandemic spread throughout the world. Given its rise in popularity, regulatory policies for digital health are essential to guide digital health companies and programs to provide people with safe and better digital health services.
The EMPEROR-Reduced Phase III clinical trial by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company found that empagliflozin, a diabetes medication, is a safe and effective treatment for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.
Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, representing 31 percent of all global deaths. Heart disease is one contributing factor to these statistics. To guide more in-depth research of the heart and the development of disease, scientists have set out to chart cellular and genetic maps of the human heart.
Virtual reality technology will soon be used to screen for cognitive assessment in older adults in Singapore. Based on a recent study by SingHealth Polyclinics (SHP) and Duke-NUS Medical School, the technology showed to be practicable and receptive by elderly participants.
Cross-sectional study by SingHealth Polyclinics finds employed seniors to be more physical active but more likely to display sedentary behaviour. The study conducted with almost 400 participants aged 60 and above in Singapore aimed to collect data on physical activity levels and sedentary behaviour. Thereby, gathering essential insight to associated factors for successful ageing.
Fighting for Sustainability: One Shrimp at a Time
EShiok Meats is a cell-based clean meat company founded in 2018. As the first of its kind, the founding team hopes to bring clean and healthy seafood and animal meats to the dinner table. Making use of technologies in cell biology, development of Shiok Meats is a stepping stone towards a sustainable future for the seafood industry. Dr Ling Kai Yi, Chief Scientific/Technology Officer and co-founder of Shiok Meats tells us more.
Southeast Asia's first stool bank, Asian Microbiome Library, founded by Associate Professor Jeremy Lim, aims to boost microbiome research in the Asian population to address the unmet needs and research gaps in healthcare and understanding of the Asian gut microbiome.
By Ling Yi Leaders from global institutions, academia, healthcare and government organisations come together at a Seminar on Precision Medicine organised by BC Platforms. They discuss about the challenges, innovations and future policy and business directions needed to harness the power of big data and genomics in Healthcare and Life Science.
Exclusive interview with Francois Sandre, Head of Asia & JPAC of Sanofi Pasteur on vaccination programmes and how best to proactively tackle them through collaboration and adapting from past lessons.
On 9 March 2020, Sanofi and KPMG launched the first sub-paper to the overarching report on advocacy principles: Driving Comprehensive Healthcare Policy in ASEAN published in 2019. The papers aimed to highlight advocacy principles in providing affordable andaccessible healthcare in the ASEAN region.
Training members of the community to take on responsibilities enabled by technology is the first step towards reaching the ultimate goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
In early January 2020, Hummingbird Biosciences published preclinical data showcasing the efficacy of its anti-HER3 antibody known as 10D1F. The findings demonstrate the capabilities of Hummingbird Biosciences as an innovative biotherapeutics company to deliver precision medicine for challenging medical conditions.
Self-managing diabetes can be a challenging process; it is a daily task for the patient and will take a toll on an individual's morale. A survey conducted by Abbott and Diabetes Singapore found that 39 percent of the Singaporean respondents with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus experience Diabetes Burnout. To enlighten us on this topic and share more about the implications it would have on a diabetic patient is Ms Anna Jacob, Nutrition Director from Abbott Nutrition International, Singapore.
The increasing demand for the digitization of healthcare information from the use of electronic medical records and medical devices, calls for healthcare systems to focus on the importance of analytics platforms for healthcare data. To illuminate on analytics platforms in the healthcare industry in providing valuable insights that can positively drive clinical and business decisions is Celine Siow, Regional Vice-President for Asia and Japan at Alteryx
On 7th December 2019, Pearl Gan and Dr Sophie Yacoub published an article on Lancet; Picturing Health: Dengue in Vietnam. The article highlighted the collaborative efforts by the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in combating dengue. Sharing with us her experience and motivations for this photodocumentary is Pearl Gan, photographer for OUCRU, Vietnam.
Programme Director of BlueChilli, Seow Hui Hong shares with us what the HealthTech start-ups will be experiencing in the BlueChilli HealthTech Accelerator programme and qualities that they look for during the selection process.
An appreciation for the importance of cybersecurity in healthcare institutions with insights from Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Asia Pacific and Japan of Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, Carlos Gómez Gallego.
Changing demands for healthcare among Asian populations and raising healthcare costs will push healthcare organizations to a value-based approach to bring better patient care.
Insights to a research initiative by Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT's Research Enterprise in Singapore, Disruptive and Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision (DiSTAP) and their work to produce food in a sustainable and innovative way.
Currently on Phase IV of its clinical trials, the Japanese Treat and Extend Study of Aflibercept in Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration (ALTAIR) aims to assess both the efficacy and safety of aflibercept administration methods. — By John Battersby
The medical device market in ASEAN is predicted to be worth US$8.5 billion by 2021 according to Forbes magazine. Forbes also calculates the start-up ecosystem in Southeast Asia will be worth more than US$13 billion by 2020. But is Thailand doing enough to support healthcare industry start-ups and secure a leading position in those markets?
Dr Peter Piot shares some lessons Asia can learn from the Spanish Flu and tells us more on the innovations and precautions we can take to tackle future health threats.
There is currently no cure for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and only a handful of approved treatments, with the success rate for approval of new compounds the lowest of any therapeutic area. In this interview with Dr Charles Stacey, we find out what causes the poor success rates, current treatments on the market, and a new type of therapy giving hope to AD patients.
Millennial physicians are bringing a fresh perspective to the doctor-patient relationship. Richard Saynor discusses what this means for patients and the healthcare system.
Randy Schekman is a Nobel Prize-winning American cell biologist at the University of California, Berkeley and once had thoughts of running away from home when his savings for a microscope were spent on household groceries. An exclusive interview with Schekman finds out more about his childhood and university years stemming from his lifelong fascination with microbiology.
A high growth market, the government in Vietnam launched the 2020 vision to modernise health infrastructure in the country. However, Vietnamese laboratories face challenges in establishing laboratory practice and high-quality standards which means that the lab practices, quality standards and patient safety can be further improved to bring it at par with other countries in Asia Pacific.
The global burden of major non-communicable diseases such as heart disease has shifted to Asia in recent years, spurred on by real and rapid socio-economic growth in the region. This has driven the need to conduct more medical research in Asia and on Asian subjects which has in turn driven the need for more collaborations between industry and Asia-based academic institutions with the objective of improving patient outcomes.
APBN speaks to Stuart Giles to learn about the involvement of Icon Group in Asia, partnerships made, and what he thinks about the future of cancer care.
Dr. Sherry Aw shares about her role model, barriers faced by women in taking up leadership positions and her advice for young women thinking of a career in science.
Ong Ai Hua shares how leaders play a crucial role in unlocking the potential of people, encouraging innovation and diversity, as well as managing her personal and professional roles.
For patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, a progressive chronic respiratory disease, they struggle to blow a single pinwheel from an arm's length. Dr. Lee Yeow Hian sheds more insight on this condition and treatments available to relieve the symptoms.
Microsoft is best known for its computing products and services, but one area less known that Microsoft is establishing itself in, is the healthcare industry. APBN had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Simon Kos, chief medical officer at Microsoft. He shared with us his views on the digital transformation in healthcare systems, emerging technologies and Microsoft's role in transforming healthcare.
Cancer is an incredibly complex series of diseases and the emerging fields of comprehensive genomic profiling and molecular information are set to play a fundamental role in how cancer medicines and diagnostics solutions are developed and used, says Roche and Foundation Medicine at a global media event. Lim Guan Yu reports from Boston.
The Orbis Flying Eye Hospital is a fully accredited, state-of-the-art hospital onboard an MD-10 aircraft. It delivers innovative training and continued medical education locally. Elaine Woon and Jasmine Ng tell us more about this mobile hospital.
The dental consumables market is growing by leaps and bounds owing to the growing dental tourism in India, technological advancements, and rising incidences of chronic diseases, says Sharmistha Sarkar. Moreover, several marketing strategies adopted by the market players are leading to the growth of this market.
Professor Philip Eng provides insights into idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a rare and debilitating lung condition that is often misdiagnosed as other lung conditions or mistaken as merely being signs of ageing.
With the rapidly aging Singapore population, an estimated 30,000 additional healthcare professionals are required by 2020 to address the manpower challenge. Many Singaporeans are open to transit towards a technology-driven healthcare model and adopt technology to improve their healthcare experience. This increase in demand for technology has driven growth in the Asia-Pacific healthcare market, but increasing the risk of cyberattacks as well. Justin Chiah shares insights on six proactive measures that healthcare organizations can take to guard against cyber-attacks.
Better nutrition can play a role in tackling the detrimental cardiovascular effects that people suffer from having been exposed to polluted air. André Rhoen says optimizing micronutrients intake can help reduce inflammation, and therefore reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases.
The Netherlands Centre for One Health (NCOH) functions as a national coordinating platform for research and partnerships. One of their efforts is combating emerging zoonotic virus infections like MERS-CoV and influenza by understanding these virus host interactions and eventually explore novel solutions.
Hospitals alarm alerts, which started out as a solution to patient care, is becoming a problem on its own with almost 64 percent of received alerts being false alarms. This greatly hampers productivity and patient safety. George Pepes says hospitals need intelligent, healthcare-centric, integrated, event-driven care team communications tools to help them serve patients' needs more efficiently and effectively.
Would you trust a robot to help you restore your eyesight? The ophthalmology department at the Swiss Triemly City Hospital noticed that a surprising number of people were open to the idea of receiving eye surgery from a robot, if a doctor was present. [1] Robotic surgery alone is not new - robotic tools such as the Da Vinci system have already been commonly deployed to operate on patients' bodies. However...
Advances in science and technology have created opportunities to give people a better start in life, cure rare genetic diseases, personalise medicines and even grow more resilient plants that can help to feed the world. During the Commonwealth Science Conference (CSC) 2017 held in Singapore from 13-16 June, APBN editor Carmen Loh interviewed three scientists who have focused their careers on just such...
APBN is honoured to interview Dr Allen Lai on how genetic testing aids in personalized treatment and care for cancer patients. From the interview,we get to learn more about ACT Genomics where Dr Allen is the Senior Vice President. ACT Genomics is a biotech company focused in cutting-edgegenomic profiling and empowering physicians and patients with evidence-based information. Its headquarters is based...
What a time to be alive. Drones that drop pizza at your doorstep, robots that take your food orders, tapping out an order from your smartwatch, the list goes on. We have become used to the ubiquitous food delivery apps that have permeated the food scene like UberEats, FoodPanda and Deliveroo, but novel technologies like drones and robots still make for a delightful unexpected sight. Why all these...
Thiamin diphosphate (TDP, vitamin B1) is an essential coenzyme present in all organisms. Animals obtain TDP from their diets, but plants synthesize TDP de novo. The vitamin B1 biosynthesis pathway was thought to be interconnected between chloroplasts and the cytosol in plants. A research team led by Hsieh Ming-Hsiun from the Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology at Academia Sinica has isolated a...
(Interview with Dr Ujjwal Rao, Clinical Specialist at Elsevier) You wrote a whitepaper "Order Sets: A Poka-Yoke for Clinical Decisions". Could you briefly explain how the use of Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) can positively impact patient safety? Clinicians are decision makers at every step along the patient journey. In other sector-related fields, scientists, researchers and technologists are less...
You are running and coordinating several programmes related to cancer prevention and cancer care in Vietnam. Could you briefly tell us about the ongoing programmes? Cancer is highly prioritized in Vietnam. It is one of diseases included in the non-communicable disease (NCD) programme. We have National Programme for Cancer Control which approved from the government since 2008. We run the...
She had a mission when she returned to Singapore 14 years ago - to create an institute with people who shared a similar vision and research approach. At the EmTech Asia 2017 conference, Prof. Jackie Y. Ying, the Executive Director at Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), A*STAR, told APBN that IBN has at present more than 630 active patents and patent applications. Twenty percent of which...
Have you ever thought of what impact you could have on our society? Some people are different; they have innovative minds and invest their time developing ideas in the hope of bringing those brilliant thoughts to full blossom. Each year, MIT Technology Review (TR) magazine elects ten young innovators who are below 35 years of age on a regional list to award them for their innovative work that...
Blackmores Institute, the research and education arm of Australia's leading natural health brand, organized its inaugural Blackmores Institute Symposium in Singapore on March 23, 2017. The institute was established to translate evidence-based science into practical resources and advisory services to improve the quality use of natural medicine, thereby improving health outcomes for the community...
APBN was very honoured that it had the opportunity to speak to one of the most influential speakers at EmTech Asia 2017, Professor Sir David Lane, a scientist credited with the landmark discovery of cancer gene p53. The p53 gene is considered the most significant of all genes altered in cancerous cells because its mutations cause almost 50% of all human cancers. Sir David is the Director of the p53 Laboratory...
(Interview with Dr Zhao Ping, Chairman, Cancer Foundation of China) Dr Zhao Ping has served as chairman of the Cancer Foundation of China since 2016. Prior to this position, he was president of the Cancer Institute and Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS), Peking Union Medical College (PUMC), until the end of 2011. This institute/hospital is the flagship of cancer research...
National Cancer Council Malaysia, or MAKNA (Majlis Kanser Nasional), is a non-governmental organisation to help cancer patients in Malaysia. APBN editor, Carmen J.W. Loh had the chance to talk to Farahida Mohd Farid, the general manager of MAKNA at The Economist Events' War on Cancer Healthcare Forum 2017 in Singapore - a one-day event which welcomed more than 150 stakeholders...
Unable to hear properly after severe illness at a very young age, Geoffrey Ball, 53, has been looking for, and working on a solution improve his hearing for the last 30 years. In the process, he turned himself into an inventor and entrepreneur for implantable hearing devices. Growing up in Silicon Valley, California, Ball had developed sensorineural hearing loss when he was a child. For him, conventional...
Find a challenging question, trust in your findings and don't pay too much attention to the naysayers. That is the advice that Nobel laureates Sir Timothy Hunt, Dr Sydney Brenner and Professor Harald zur Hausen would give to other scientists, particularly those at the start of their own careers. APBN editors Carmen Loh and Catherine Ong interviewed the eminent scientists during the Global Young Scientists...
(Interview with Ms. Sunitha Devi Shanmugam, Regulatory Affairs Director for GSK Consumer Healthcare, South East Asia) For a long time, Asians had been practicing the tradition of self-care. In multiracial and multicultural Southeast Asia countries such as Singapore and Malaysia, people use traditional medicine from Malay, Chinese or Indian cultures to manage their health. In today's context, self-care concept...
Malaria is an acute febrile illness caused by infection with any of five species of protozoan obligate parasites in the genus Plasmodium. These infections are transmitted via the bite of specific species of mosquitoes in the genus Anopheles. While most of Africa has only three species of those mosquitoes, the Asia-Pacific has several dozen of them transmitting malaria in a very wide variety of habitats. Over...
Royal Philips launched the Health Continuum Space in Singapore on 19th January, which was developed to facilitate collaboration with governments, healthcare professionals and related stakeholders to design and co-create future healthcare solutions, facilities and hospitals. The launch was graced by Guest of Honour, Mr. Chee Hong Tat, Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information...
Founded in 2014, APACMed is a relatively new organisation. What are some contributions that APACMed has made in Asia Pacific? The Asia Pacific Medical Technology Association (APACMed) was established in 2014 as a non-profit trade association that aims to unify the medical technology industry across Asia Pacific and raise standards of care for patients. As an association, we have important...
The evening of 15th December 2016 marked a wonderful end of day for Dr Wan Yue and Asst. Professor Shao Huilin, who were honoured with the L'Oréal Singapore National Fellowships for the year of 2016. At the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum in National University of Singapore (NUS), people are gathered to witness the women acknowledged for their contributions to the field of...
If you are seeing distorted straight lines or in other words, wavy lines, it might be an alarming sign that you have an age-related eye disease - PCV (Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy). PCV is a common subtype of a wet Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and is a leading cause of blindness globally. It is characterised by the abnormal growth of blood vessels ending in polyps forming at the...
At Roche, we are focused on creating an environment where employees can perform to their best and if this includes leadership roles, we provide opportunities for employees to learn and develop. In Singapore, we have partnered with well-known institutions to help us design and deliver our global and regional leadership programs as well as virtual tools and sessions to make learning accessible to all...
For the first time ever, using microarray technology for gene expression analysis, we were able to show that inflammation starts very early in comedones. Inflammatory markers were upregulated in whiteheads, traditionally seen as non-inflammatory acne, while keratin markers were upregulated in blackheads. These results indicate that lesions progress from blackheads to whiteheads to...
On 29th September 2016, AbbVie officially opened the first phase of its global manufacturing facility - the small molecule active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) facility in Singapore. The opening ceremony attended by the media and its employees, marked AbbVie's first manufacturing presence in Asia. Also in attendance was Mr. S. Iswaran, Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry. AbbVie was formed...
Total hip arthroplasty (THA) consists of replacing a diseased hip with an artificial joint: the hip implant helps to relieve pain and improve a patient's mobility. Over the past 50 years, this procedure has become one of the most reliable in the field of orthopedic surgery and it has contributed to great improvement in the quality of life and activity level of older people [1]. The Judet brothers tried...
Interview with Mr. Graeme Jacombs: 1. Kantar Health is a leading global healthcare consulting and market research firm. Please share with us more about the business, focus area and market strategy of Kantar Health in healthcare industry. If I had to sum up Kantar Health in a sentence, it is that we provide insights and evidence that enable healthcare and life sciences companies to accelerate...
Saphetor is a precision medicine startup founded by Dr Andreas Massouras, the CEO, with whom we were delighted to talk with about cutting edge clinical data-driven diagnostics, powerful databases for genetic research, and the fascinating world of the genome and the information that lies within. So how does DNA play a role in clinical diagnostics? While Dr Massouras confirms to us in our interview...
Interview with Sanjay Joshi: 1. In your opinion, what are some challenges currently facing or will be faced by healthcare organizations in Asia region? At the macro level, the healthcare challenges of Asia are clean air and drinking water, communicable diseases and an aging population with chronic diseases. Three pervasive trends will drive the adoption of technology: patient-centric care, new...
Interview with Professor Kurt Miller & A/Prof. Edmund Chiong: Q1: What is castration-resistant prostate cancer? A1: According to the Annals Academy of Medicine's Guidelines on Management of Prostate Cancer (2013), castration-resistant prostate cancer is a type of prostate cancer that no longer responds to hormone therapy. The male body naturally produces hormones called androgens, which...
With the mission of "Science for A Better Life", Bayer always dedicates itself in developing diverse innovative medicines for healthcare needs, especially combining the strengths from various parties of the innovation community. From traditional licensing partnerships and strategic research alliances with companies and academia, to new models of open innovation, Bayer embraces different...
Realising the lack of data on heart failure from Asian perspective, Associate Professor Carolyn Lam, Senior Consultant, Department of Cardiology, National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) and Professor Mark Richards, Director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute of Singapore (CVRI) at the National University Health System (NUHS) and other researchers aspired to collect quality information of...
For many decades, the primary strategies for reducing the harm associated with cigarette smoking have been focused on preventing smoking initiation and promoting smoking cessation. Although smoking prevalence has declined in many countries over the last forty years, in the last ten years those declines have flattened in many OECD and other advanced countries such as Singapore. Globally...
Headquartered in Dublin, Medtronic provides medical technology, services and solutions to millions of people worldwide, helping them alleviate pain, restore health and prolong life. It is a well-established company, with operations in more than 260 locations across 155 countries. With Medtronic's mission on collaborating with stakeholders worldwide to take healthcare "Further, Together"...
Mundipharma, recently delivered another boost to the City State's booming biomedical sector, announcing a planned 7,900m2 facility in Tuas. The new facility will be the world's first BETADINE® Consumer Health Hub that combines R&D, manufacturing and distribution. The povidone-iodine-based solution has been trusted by hospitals, doctors and consumers around the world for...
Recently, a joint research team led by Dr. Ning-Sun Yang from Agricultural Biotechnology Research Centre of Academia Sinica, and Dr. Yueh-Hsiung Kuo from China Medical University in Taiwan, found a natural plant product-derivative dihydrobenzofuran lignin (Q2-3), could prevent metastasis of mammary tumour cells. They discovered that Q2-3 can be easily obtained by the dimerization of...
MEDNIVA provides learning solutions to cater to the healthcare industry worldwide. These include individual and team tests, case studies, active discussions and simulations. It aims to deliver optimal learning outcomes to healthcare stakeholders including professionals and patients, so that industry investments in education are fully utilised to improve healthcare outcomes. MEDNIVA has exclusive...
APBN editor, Carmen met Professor Alexander Ruban, who was invited to give a presentation of the dynamic light harvesting membrane, at 4th International Workshop on Solar Energy for Sustainability: Photosynthesis and Bioenergetics held in Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore last March...
Takeda Pharmaceuticals' Emerging Markets Business Unit is headquartered in Singapore and operates across almost 40 countries, spanning five geographic Areas: Asia Pacific, CIS, Greater China, Latin America and Near East, Middle East, Africa (NEMEA)...
1 in 4 people worldwide die of conditions caused by thrombosis. [1] 13 October is marked yearly as World Thrombosis Day. Thrombosis, the medical term for a blood clot, leads to diseases including heart attack, stroke and venous thromboembolism (VTE)...
GE Healthcare's Life Sciences business is now producing high quality powdered media at its new Cell Culture Media facility. Located at Tuas, Singapore, the facility aims to supply cell culture media to meet the growing demand from the local region and worldwide...
A drastic increase of solid waste of 159,000 tonnes was observed from 2014 to 2015 in Singapore. The growing population and rise in affluence and purchasing power, substantially increase the production of solid waste over year. This situation is not unique to Singapore, but also happens across other nations in this planet...
What can the Internet of Things (IoT) do for Healthcare? At the IoT Asia 2016 Conference held from 30-31 March 2016, APBN was honoured to interview two experienced leaders in the industry, Mr. Eugene Borukhovich and Mdm. Véronique Pequignat, for their insights on IoT's latest trends and its impact on healthcare...
In medicine, the most beneficial use of 3D Printing is to create organ models customised for the patient for doctors to use in surgical planning. 3D Printing has revolutionised science, healthcare, manufacturing, and even culinary arts, with its innovative technology from concept to realism. Stratasys, one of the leading game changers in the 3D printing and additive manufacturing industry...
Sony has recently launched many interesting and high quality products and technologies that can be brought to hospital and other healthcare institutes. Here are some of its cutting-edge technologies that worth introducing...
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia's national science agency, has teamed up with Dell to deliver CSIRO's newest high performance computing cluster (HPC), named Pearcey. This cluster is named after Australian ICT pioneer Dr. Trevor Pearcey who led the CSIRO project team which built one of the world's first digital computers...
Every year since 2014, 10 young people are selected as Asia's TR35 innovators, from a list of talented candidates who are scientists, researchers, technologists, inventors, or entrepreneurs. They must be citizens of (or work in) one of the following countries... Amazed by their works and dreams, APBN conducted interviews with four of these young innovators during the EmTech Asia conference from 26 to 27 January 2016...
Early this year in January, Singapore government announced a SGD 4 billion funding to health and biomedical science sector over the next 5 years (2016-2020) in Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2020 plan. Attracted to Singapore government's commitment in establishing a global R&D hub, Lite-On Technology had taken its first move to set up its first overseas biomedical R&D centre in Singapore...
The Department of Health (DoH) of the Philippines has launched the world's first public dengue immunisation programme on 4th April 2016. The country aims to vaccinate one million public school children aged 9 years and older students from 6,000 public schools in three highly dengue-endemic regions of the Philippines. The initiative sends a strong message to the rest of the world that dengue vaccination is a critical addition to integrated disease prevention efforts...
"Cancer is the leading cause of deaths in Singapore. It had overtaken cardiac diseases for a decade and a half now. 1 in 4 Singaporeans died due to cancer. 40% cancer disease occurs in people aged 70 and above, and there are 14 cancer deaths every day." said Dr. Ravindran Kanesvaran, a geriatric oncologist...
ASLAN Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company focused on developing a portfolio of immuno-oncology agents and targeted therapies. Led by highly experienced management team with global pharmaceutical expertise, ASLAN has offices across Singapore, Taiwan and Australia, working on the clinical development programmes for Asia prevalent tumour types such as...
5th Asia Pacific Breast Cancer Summit (APBCS) in conjunction with 2nd Singapore Breast Oncoplastic Surgery Symposium (SBOSS) was held successfully from... Dr. Rebecca Dent is the Senior Consultant in the division of Medical Oncology at National Cancer Centre Singapore. She is the founder and co-chair for the Asia-Pacific Breast Cancer Summit...
Olivier Loeillot is General Manager of Bioprocess Asia for GE Healthcare's Life Sciences business, based in Singapore. In his role, he oversees the services and technologies offered to the biopharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing industries, including helping companies improve product yields and reduce production times. Previously, Olivier was General Manager of Enterprise Solutions, a global business unit of GE Healthcare's $1.8 billion Life Sciences division...
Cennerv Pharma ("Cennerv") is a pharmaceutical development company started by Dr. Anil K. Ratty in year 2014, focusing on developing novel therapies for mental dysfunction in the 'Big 5' central nervous system disorders. Cennerv's effective solutions improve quality of life for patients and restore their dignity. With a total market value of US$77 billion and growing, these diseases together represent...
Singapore Cord Blood Bank (SCBB), Singapore's non-profit public cord blood bank, was officially opened in September 2005 in response to the growing demand for unrelated donor umbilical cord blood transplantation. Haematologists and paediatricians in Singapore identified this need as their patients were unable to find matching stem cell units they needed for blood stem cell transplants...
Being in the medical device and musculoskeletal business for more than 30 years, what inspires you in your career journey? The inspiration and motivation that kept my career journey charging forward in the musculoskeletal business was the sense of actualisation and contributions to improving the quality of life for patients in Asia Pacific and to help elevate the skills of surgeons in the region. The driving force...
The Asia Pacific Medical Technology Association (APACMed) was established to represent a diverse group of innovative medical technology companies and industry associations in the Asia Pacific region. With this purpose, APACMed hosted a MedTech Forum held on 10-11th December 2015 in Singapore, which attracted the attention of close to 500 delegates and professionals. "Our region is diverse and filled with complex healthcare challenges. APACMed is uniquely positioned to provide a unified voice...
Dengvaxia? is the first dengue vaccine licensed for dengue prevention in Asia. What are the hurdles before getting Dengvaxia? into market? Specifically, the first Asian country to license Dengvaxia? for dengue prevention is the Philippines. The regulatory review process is ongoing in other endemic countries within Asia...
MonaLisa Touch®, is not a classical portrait, but is the new frontier in vulvo-vaginal laser treatment for menopause related symptoms especially vaginal atrophy, innovatively developed by Italian company DEKA...
Singapore hosted the 7th biannual International Peptide Symposium (IPS), which was held recently at Matrix at Biopolis from 9-11 December 2015. This was the first time that the IPS was organized in Singapore and the meeting was a great success, with about 280 delegates from 20 countries especially representatives from China and India. The co-chairs Sir Professor David Lane from A*STAR, Professor James Tam from NTU and...
We met up with female scientists who won the 2015 L'Or éal Singapore For Women In Science (FWIS) National Fellowships. They are passionate and find a lot of joy in their work. While working hard to achieve success, they also find time to enjoy life. Let's get to know them better...
With the increasing economic growth and demographic changes in Myanmar, expenditure in the healthcare landscape is set to rise exponentially by the growing awareness of regular check-up for early detection of non-communicable diseases. Myanmar's total healthcare expenditure is set to cross...
Mr. Ling Zhen is the General Manager and Head of Greater China at Quintiles. He oversees the overall service offering and strategic growth of the business in the Greater China region. Ling joined Quintiles in 2007, based at its global headquarter in North Carolina, where he led key programs structuring innovative resource-based and investment-based partnering solutions for global pharmaceutical companies...
Singapore has awarded national fellowships to two female scientists, Dr Neo Mei Lin and Assistant Professor Ling Xing Yi, as part of the 2015 L'Oréal Singapore For Women in Science National Fellowship programme. Each receives a grant of SGD$30,000...
Professor Daniela Rhodes, the director of NTU Institute of Structural Biology. The leading structural biologist who is recreating a similar LMB research spirit in Singapore.
In 2011, Rhodes moved to Singapore and joined the School of Biological Sciences at Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) as a professor. Prior to her current designation, the Italian-born research scientist spent a significant amount of time in Sweden and the United Kingdom...
Dr. Xu Zhang is a neurobiologist working as a senior principal investigator at the Institute of neuroscience, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences (SIBS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He was conferred the Bachelor degree of Medicine from the Fourth Military Medical University (FMMU) in 1985...
Prof Jackie Ying was born in Taipei, and raised in Singapore. She received her B.E. and Ph.D. from The Cooper Union and Princeton University, respectively...
Fang-Fang Yin is a professor and director of radiation physics in radiation oncology department at Duke-Kunshan University. He obtained BS in physics from Zhejiang University and MS in physics from Bowling Green State University, and PhD in medical physics from the University of Chicago...
When developing a drug to treat Type-2 diabetes, it is important to develop one that addresses the cardiovascular (CV) safety of the drug beyond glycemia alone...
Professor Sir Tom Blundell is the Director of Research and Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge. He is also the co-founder of Astex, an oncology company valued at US$886 million...
On 3rd August 2015, Nature Cell Biology published the article 'Local generation of fumarate promotes DNA repair through inhibition of histone H3 demethylation.'...
AXA Assistance is an independent subsidiary of the AXA Group with more than 35 alarm centres around the world operating 24hrs round the clock and 365 days a year. With a humble beginning that dates back to 1959 in Barcelona...
An interview with Prof. Martin Humphries. Professor of Biochemistry, Vice-President & Dean in the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Manchester, UK. He is concurrently Vice-President of the Academy of Medical Sciences. The interview was conducted by the editor, Yuhui Lin.
Healthcare musings: can the HKEX be No.1 in biotech? - by Vanessa Huang
