Anthony Tan, CEO, Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation
Hong Kong’s strategic geographical location and the huge economic potential of the China market have attracted a steady stream of overseas biotechnology companies to the city. The opening, earlier this year, of a dedicated Biotech Centre at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park (HKSTP) is providing a focal point for the innovation taking place. According to E Anthony Tan, CEO of HKSTP, the park acts as “a rendezvous for biotech companies and world-class research and development, creating a clustering effect among these companies to communicate with each other, make improvements and launch products into the market.”
The Biotech Centre incorporates two dedicated life-science buildings, offering companies cutting-edge equipment, shared-use laboratories and technical engineering support. An SME centre provides wide-ranging practical assistance to incubate biotech start-ups.
Giant Leap
The centre’s opening, in April, was marked by the launch of the partnership between Pfizer, the world's leading pharmaceutical company, and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, to pursue innovative biomedical research.
The dedicated Biotech Centre at the Hong Kong Science Park is a hub for life-enhancing research
Pfizer plans on collaborating with HKSTP’s network of universities and research institutes to identify biomedical opportunities. Al Gabor, Pfizer’s Regional President for North Asia, India, Pakistan and Thailand, called the partnership “an important step towards boosting Asia's biotechnology sector.”
SME Benefits
Hong Kong start-up CDE is seeking investors for its patented technology
Smaller companies are doing great things as well at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park. Comprehensive Drug Enterprises Ltd (CDE), one of the incubatees, is involved in new-absorption technology that can enhance drug penetration for quick onset of action, especially in immediate or emergency situations.
Managing Partner Bernard Chan was one of the co-founders who set up the specialty pharmaceutical company in 2005. He said the help that CDE got as an SME in Hong Kong was invaluable in getting the company off the ground.
“When we moved into the Hong Kong Science Park at the end of 2006 under the incubation programme, we received the first year rent-free. In years two to four, we pay only half rent, and we also have use of the shared facilities, including laboratories,” says Mr Chan, whose start-up is privately invested.
“This allows us to minimise our operational costs, so we can invest all our resources into R&D.”
CDE also enjoys the various benefits available to Hong Kong SMEs, including funding from the government’s Innovation and Technology fund.
Quick to Market
CDE focuses on downstream R&D, allowing results to be readily applied for production and commercial use, and may generate revenue within two years.
“Our first product, Promptol, is for managing anxiety tachycardia – a kind of stage fright – in less than 10 minutes; our second product, Avert, manages motion sickness in less than 15 minutes; and the third product, QD-Glu, for joint health, with a much smaller-sized pill than now available, will be ready to launch in 2010,” Mr Chan said.
“Our patented technology achieves significantly faster onset of action, and significantly less drug dosage for the same efficacy, producing fewer side effects.”
Mr Chan said CDE, which has won the Hong Kong Awards’ Industry Technological Achievement Award, is interested in out-licensing its products and technology. The company is also identifying investors and joint-venture partners with which to develop biotech projects.
The Hong Kong Science Park is currently home to 21 biotech-related companies. Of these, 18 are partner companies and three are start-ups, otherwise known as incubatees. Along with local companies, they come from the United States, Germany, Japan, Denmark and Canada. They are involved in medical devices and diagnostics, chemical and biological therapeutics, molecular biology instrumentation, tools and reagents, Chinese and herbal medicine, regenerative medicine and bio-informatics.
One partner company is Hologic, Inc, a developer, manufacturer and supplier of premium women’s health diagnostic products, medical imaging systems and surgical products.
Close to Customers
Hologic targets women’s health through its specialised work in Hong Kong
Hologic officially opened its Asia Pacific Training Centre at HKSTP this month after considering other sites. "We could be in any big building downtown, and we would be just another tenant,” said Chairman Jack Cumming. “Here, we are welcomed as an important member of a scientific community."
Choosing Hong Kong against other regional cities was also no accident, according to Paul Young, Head of Asia Pacific.
“Hong Kong is very close to our biggest markets, Japan and China, so our location and the fact that we share the same time zone enables us to communicate with our customers more effectively,” Mr Young said.
“We can also use Hong Kong as a service centre to send out spare parts and other consumables very efficiently,” he added.
Hologic’s work is being done where it’s needed most. Mr Young explained that Asian women are susceptible to breast cancer from an earlier age than their western counterparts. In Asia, first diagnosis can occur in the early 30s; in the west, it’s more likely to be after 50. The density of the Asian breast also makes cancer more difficult to detect.
“We wanted to do R&D in Hong Kong, so that we could more easily get the data we need to develop the technology to overcome these challenges,” Mr Young said.
It‘s expected that hundreds of medical professionals from around the world will visit Hologic’s Hong Kong facility each year for product and diagnostic training. They would include doctors, specialists, radiographers and pathologists, as well as distributors, marketers and service and connectivity engineers. They will come from the Chinese mainland, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.
At the moment, Hologic employs about 20 people in Hong Kong, but Mr Young expects the business to grow, both organically and through acquisition.
