Louis Derick Payet

𝐓𝐨 𝐔𝐒 𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐔𝐒? 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 🇺🇸 🌏💡 For many startups we meet at Heal Venture Lab, a Asia-focused health tech accelerator, the decision of where to scale is crucial. Historically, the U.S. healthcare market was a clear answer, given its advanced tech ecosystem, abundant capital, and readiness for new innovations. Today, we believe that the global landscape is shifting. Whilst the U.S. healthcare market offers high potential, it’s still fiercely competitive, heavily regulated, and costly to enter and navigate. Startups that succeed typically need to establish a local presence and hire locally to break into the space. 🌍 On the other hand, Asia offers startups unique opportunities to diversify risk, access rapidly growing and aging populations, and tailor solutions for specific healthcare needs across the region. Heal Venture Lab believes in testing the waters within Asia before a U.S. expansion, and we’re excited to explore this through a series of insightful webinars with industry experts. 🎙️ Join us as we kickstart a series where we invite a variety of key stakeholders to share their real-world experiences! Check out the details below for our first webinar on the biomed ecosystem, and scaling strategies in Asia vs. the U.S. #HealthTech #StartupStrategy #AsiaInnovation #ScalingInAsia #HealthcareTransformation #VentureLab #MedTech 🚀

7

🌐 Advancing Telemedicine in Asia: Key Insights from the 2024 Report 🌐 Telemedicine in Asia is evolving quickly, thanks to advances in technology. However, scaling it across the region to provide healthcare faces several hurdles. The 2024 Report on Advancing Telemedicine in Asia highlights key factors for overcoming these barriers: 🔑 Clear Understanding A lack of clarity around what telemedicine truly entails has slowed its adoption. The report provides a clear definition, connecting frameworks and definitions by World Health Organization (WHO), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: using tech to deliver healthcare remotely for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. 🔑 Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) A robust DPI, including connectivity, digital payments, health databases, and digital IDs, is essential to scaling telemedicine beyond limited settings. DPI-H (Digital Public Infrastructure for Health) is crucial for seamless health care delivery. 🔑 Supportive Policies Successful telemedicine depends on creating the right policy environment, as outlined in the USAID Digital Policy (2024-2034) and Digital Health Position Paper (2024-2029), ensuring telemedicine is integrated into health systems. This resource is a roadmap for policymakers and stakeholders to drive scalable, impactful telemedicine initiatives that can transform healthcare delivery across Asia. #HealthCare #Health #Technology Check out the executive summary 👇🏾

4

Private Healthcare is changing in Vietnam… Vietnam National Master Plan for the period of 2021–2030, with a vision to 2050, there should be 35 hospital beds and 19 doctors per 10,000 people, with a 15% rate of private hospital beds by 2030. Right now, the most talking over is how many private hospitals aligned with this vision 2050, even their own vision 2030 to capture 15% market share of hospital beds in Vietnam? Medically, vision is the complex, multipart process that gives our sense of sight. Similarly, a vision-2030 is complex process to establish goal for what private hospitals will be positioning in the market by 2030. In an easy way, it aligns with current performance, future trends to grow revenue YTY and EBITDA. It’s dynamic process to look at 360 degrees helicopter views to analyze the risk, investment with RoI, and incorporated with RoA. Finally, the vision-2030 needs to communicate with a creative way to inform internal and external shareholders, having an execution plan to invite everyone in the same page of commitments. Vision-2030 statement should capture the key elements of what business success looks like to make an impact in the community, Watch, and see how many private hospitals in Vietnam are working on Vision 2030….? #Vietnameseprivatehospitals #Privateequity #privatehospitals #hospitals #PEfirms

19

2 Comments

And the hits just keep on coming... but no, Japanese companies don't need to show any director and pre-director training has been done when they ask investors to vote for their executive-dominated board slates. Really? If that is the case, then on what basis are investors deciding that the majority of the board (executives) are qualified in terms of knowledge about relevant laws, governance best practices, finance, and compliance? Ask you favorite fund manager. Has anyone thought this through? #Japan is trying to reform #corpgov from "management" boards into "monitoring boards", which is a massive change, with as little concrete new learning and hard discussion as possible.. because the execs that created the lost 30 years think they are already well-qualified. At many companies, this is not working, and will not. Attitudes in this domain change very slowly, and there is a lot of slow-plodding and resistance, is the reality. 公益社団法人　会社役員育成機構　The Board Director Training Institute of Japan ( BDTI ) is part of the answer.

16

4 Comments

South Korea has set a blistering pace at pushing the development of its local digital therapeutics and overall digital health industry. After a slow start during Covid19 the government quickly set-up regulatory guidelines and then shortly after set-up reimbursement guidelines for these products. The reimbursement framework was one of the first in the Asia region in the pool of countries with universal reimbursement systems (pretty sure Japan beat them to this). Personally, I consider setting a supportive local ecosystem allowing the development, testing and initial launch for DTx products as a corner stone of creating a successful local industry. Local companies need the ability generate initial revenues and establish a proof of concept in their home market before doing the difficult work of expanding to international markets. Ideally these local requirements need to robust enough so that some of the clinician and other validation work is applicable to other markets like the US. In this regards Korea is a standout in the Asia region, and this can seen by more and more local companies registering products in Korea (Share & Service and Nunap are the latest two: https://lnkd.in/g_fjFHU2). The government also made it a point of align local guidelines to international standards with the explicit intent of helping local DTx and digital health companies expand outside of Korea. Of course given the complexity of healthcare even Korean companies are seeing their fair share of challenges in build scale as pointed out in the article below. One of the big challenges in the Korean (and every other!) market is distribution, and for a digital health product this means enabling its interoperable with hospital and clinic digital systems so clinicians can use the product seamlessly. In the US this is, in part, being addressed by the rise of aggregator platforms that have established interoperability with a set of end-user healthcare providers, which helps streamline the interoperability challenge. Its no surprise that at least one DTx distribution platform has already pop up in Korea to address this challenge (Connect DTx: https://lnkd.in/gAKAFath). South Korea is one the lead Asia players in this sector, in no small part due to backing by the government and helped by a strong local high tech industry and embedded entrepreneurial streak in the local population. #digitalhealth #digitalhealthcare #digitaltherapeutics

22

While #clinicians are increasingly leading the charge on tech #innovation and adoption, knowing when and how to #meaningfully use #technologies involves the #wisdom of the full #healthcare system. The #silver #tsunami in #Asia is a sobering reality that calls for swift and balanced #interventions. Take a listen.. Health Tech Central - Podcast

16

2 Comments

#orthopaedic treatments have always been challenging. Patients often face long recovery times, limited options, and high costs. Enter Orthocell—a biotech company changing the game with its innovative therapies. Orthocell Ltd’s partnership with Singapore isn’t just another business deal; it’s a strategic alliance poised to bring cutting-edge treatments to the forefront. Leveraging Singapore’s robust healthcare and Orthocell’s pioneering technologies, the two are working towards a common goal—improving the quality of life for patients. So, what can we expect in the coming year? Orthocell has always led medical innovation. Their mission? To develop leading regenerative medicine products that restore mobility and reduce the burden of #musculoskeletal diseases. By 2025, Orthocell aims to cement its position as a global leader in this field. Why Singapore? The city-state’s advanced #healthcare and its strategic location in Asia make it the perfect hub for Orthocell’s expansion. With state-of-the-art medical facilities and a pro-innovation government, Singapore offers fertile ground for medical advancements. Orthocell’s collaboration with local universities and research institutions in Singapore is set to yield significant advancements in therapies. These joint efforts are expected to accelerate the development of new #treatment protocols, enhancing #patient outcomes. Navigating the regulatory landscape is no easy feat, but Orthocell is making strides. With Singapore’s supportive framework, the company is well-positioned to swiftly bring its innovative products to market, ensuring patients benefit from the latest advancements without delays. At the heart of Orthocell’s strategy lies a commitment to patient care. By focusing on developing treatments that are effective and accessible, the company is setting new standards in orthopaedic care. Patients in #singapore and beyond can look forward to shorter recovery times and improved quality of life. Orthocell’s strategic move into Singapore is a game-changer. By 2025, we can expect significant improvements in orthopaedic treatments, thanks to the synergy between Orthocell’s technologies and Singapore’s healthcare ecosystem. This #partnership is a testament to what can be achieved when science and strategy converge, promising a brighter future for patients worldwide.

2

Major changes to HTA and drug pricing in South Korea are planned by the government and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA).   To tackle so-called “Korea passing” (not launching a drug in Korea) the government will explore the potential of dual pricing.   To facilitate access to cancer therapies that have a high degree of uncertainty at launch, HIRA is considering adjusting the 5% co-payment rate for such drugs.   If a new drug has greater clinical usefulness that its comparators, the cost-effectiveness evaluation criteria will be as follows: (1) if economic evaluation data are submitted, the ICER will generally be used; (2) if economic evaluation data are not submitted, the upper limit price of the comparator is the standard; a premium of 10% of the highest comparator price may be added.   A comparable foreign drug that is not available in #Korea may be referenced if it is marketed in at least three of the eight countries used for international reference pricing.   Two new types of risk-sharing agreements— outcomes-based agreements and a partial refund of the costs of the first dose of therapy—will be added to the four existing approaches (refund of the differential between list and contract prices, a combination of conditional treatment continuation based on response and refunds, global expenditure caps, and per patient expenditure caps).   The government will overhaul certification for innovative pharmaceutical companies within the next year and potentially introduce a separate certification system for global manufacturers.   Post-marketing evaluation will be conducted for high-priced drugs that have not undergone sufficient health economic evaluation. The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said: “If the conditions for innovation are met, we plan to flexibly evaluate the ICER value to reflect the fair value of the new drug, not limited to anti-cancer drugs or rare disease therapies.” The following criteria will apply to innovation: ● No alternative or therapeutically equivalent product or treatment ● Evidence of significant clinical improvement in hard endpoints (e.g., overall survival) ● Marketing authorisation through expedited review or equivalent status   The government plans to increase the maximum reduction rate for price-volume agreements (triggered if prescription volume exceeds forecasts by >30%) from 10% to 12.5% until the end of 2025, and then again to 15% from 2026 onwards. This mechanism applies to certain high-priced drugs that have reimbursement claims of KRW30bn ($21.7mn) or more. Concessions are available to companies that invest more than 10% of their turnover in R&D, though they will be reduced by 30% if a drug is subject to price-volume adjustments more than three times in five years. In addition, a “one-time reimbursement contract system” will be established to make allowances for cases of unforeseen surges in drug consumption—for example, in the event of a pandemic. #HTA #drugpricing #RSA

133

2 Comments

Couldn’t get this report out of my mind after reading it… Not that cancer patients here have a higher mortality rate, but that the original report from MAsia-Pacific Medical Technology Association (ApacMed) attempted to link this to lower access to next-gen sequencing. While ApacMed has an interest to push expensive diagnostic tests, and admitted “there is an absence of current studies establishing a causal relation between mortality-to-incidence ratio & variations in NGS access”, the message to the public had already gone out. This brings to mind Messerli’s 2012 study, which showed a high & statistically significant correlation between the number of Nobel laureates per 10 million inhabitants and chocolate consumption in kg per year & capita. It was an iconic study on the difference between statistical correlation & causality. The high cancer mortality rate in Singapore is a real problem. Getting to the crux of why this is so points to what more needs to be done. Cancer screening uptake here is lower than most developed countries - it’s proven & cost-effective tools like mammograms, Pap smears & faecal occult blood that we need more of, before barking up the NGS tree.

123

15 Comments

🚨 Update on Zyrtec-D Availability 🚨 If you’ve been searching for Zyrtec-D in Singapore, you may have noticed it’s no longer available. The medication, which combines an antihistamine and decongestant, has been discontinued globally by GSK. The move comes after concerns were raised about rare but serious conditions associated with pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in Zyrtec-D. These include: • Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome (PRES): Symptoms such as headaches, seizures, visual disturbances, and confusion. • Reversible Cerebral Vasoconstriction Syndrome (RCVS): Stroke-like symptoms caused by sudden spasms in brain blood vessels. While most cases of these conditions resolved after stopping the medication and receiving treatment, GSK decided to withdraw Zyrtec-D from most markets as a precautionary measure. Important to Note: • Other Zyrtec formulations without pseudoephedrine remain available. • Individuals with severe hypertension or chronic kidney conditions are advised to avoid medications containing pseudoephedrine, as per regulatory recommendations. This serves as a reminder to always consult healthcare professionals about the risks and benefits of any medication. Stay informed and prioritize your health! https://lnkd.in/gifg2Vcw #Healthcare #MedicationUpdate #ZyrtecD #PatientSafety

1

”Taiwan’s Biotech Miracle: A Vision for the Next 20 Years “ Over the past two decades, Taiwan’s biotech industry has truly proven its resilience and potential. From just 35 publicly listed biotech companies in 2005 to 220 today—a sixfold growth. Industry output has soared from NT$75 billion to over NT$750 billion, a tenfold increase. Even more impressive, the market cap skyrocketed from NT$75 billion to NT$1.6 trillion—a twentyfold leap! As we look ahead to the next 20 years, Taiwan has the opportunity to unleash even greater potential. Here are Three Arrows that can shape our biotech future: 1️⃣ Innovation & Globalization: Focus on cutting-edge R&D and expand Taiwan’s footprint in the global biotech ecosystem through international partnerships. 2️⃣ Sustainability & Precision Health: Shift toward sustainable biotech solutions and invest in precision medicine to meet the evolving needs of an aging population. 3️⃣ Digital Transformation & AI Integration: Harness the power of AI and big data to drive breakthroughs, from drug development to healthcare solutions. Taiwan’s biotech journey is far from over. With the right strategies, the next 20 years could redefine Taiwan as a global biotech powerhouse. Let’s aim higher! #TaiwanBiotech #Innovation #GlobalHealth #PrecisionMedicine #AIandBiotech

9

Happy Wednesday all! Thought I would take this opportunity to share some #MedTech highlights, around the APAC region: - Olympus Corporation enhances innovation capabilities by expanding R&D to Hyderabad, India: Olympus, headquartered in Japan, has announced its strategic initiative to establish an R&D Offshore Development Center (ODC) in Hyderabad, India. This decision comes as a result of a strategic agreement with global technology company HCLTech, aimed at diversifying Olympus' innovation generation activities - Korean medtech startup @HoneyNaps secures $11.6 M Series B investment: The series B funding is a successful achievement, nearly three times the $3.9 million raised through series A funding back in 2021. Founded in July 2015, HoneyNaps has amassed about $16.2 million to date, and obtained FDA approval for its AI sleep diagnosis software SOMNUM in 2023, establishing partnerships with major university hospitals across the US through its Boston-based American branch - Thrixen successfully acquired US$7M in funding to advance its diagnostics platform: Singapore-based startup Thrixen, which develops a diagnostics platform for infectious diseases, has secured funding, its co-founder and CEO Shavit N. Clein Clein announced. The investors are 22Health Ventures, an early-stage healthtech investment firm and the capital will be used to advance the development of its diagnostic technology platform - Australian govt injects $30 M for unlocking power of AI to transform healthcare: The Australian government is investing almost $30 million in research into new ways to use artificial intelligence (AI) to improve access to health services and ensure our health system remains world class. Across Australia’s leading universities, 10 grants have been awarded from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to harness the power of AI in the healthcare system, including better care for Multiple Sclerosis, better prevention of cardiac health problems, and expanding access to skin cancer assessments - 20 fantastic startups were named to MedTech Innovator Asia Pacific's accelerator: “We are delighted to announce this year’s Asia Pacific cohort of companies, representing ten countries and a broad range of technologies and cutting edge innovations. We look forward to working with our partners to support this year’s cohort and to help them advance their technologies and transform the lives of patients not only in the region but potentially worldwide,” said Fredrik Nyberg, Managing Director, MedTech Innovator Asia Pacific. You can see the list of companies here: https://lnkd.in/ggCYhi-G

28

2 Comments

Docquity, Southeast Asia’s largest community of healthcare professionals (HCPs), is working with the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC), a leading public organization dedicated to preventive medicine, to bolster HCP education in #Vietnam in response to the country’s evolving healthcare needs. The organizations will collaborate to create a dedicated educational channel, hosted on the Docquity application, to provide preventive medicine HCPs across Vietnam with learning resources over three years. HCDC will harness Docquity’s in-depth HCP network insights, platform technologies, and content expertise to securely manage the educational channel, targeting to reach over 3,000 Vietnamese HCPs in preventive medicine, family medicine, general practice, internal medicine, nutrition, nursing, public health, and other fields. The channel’s learning resources will empower HCDC’s existing network and the broader HCP community in the country with up-to-date information on disease prevention advancements and #professional #guidelines. Christophe Meugnier To share your startup story write us on - [email protected] #HCDC #Docquity

20

MALAYSIA: In Asia, where patients are less open to sharing their lived experience, running #diseaseawareness campaigns can feel one-sided if physicians are the only subject matter experts willing to talk about the condition. Recently I moderated a discussion on Generalized Pustular Psoriasis (GPP) in Kuala Lumpur, panelled by dermatologists. The event was organised by the Bridges M&C Malaysian team and attended by members of the media. GPP is a potentially life-threatening skin disease, which is characterised by recurrent, and sudden flares of widespread painful, red, inflamed skin with numerous pustules, which may coalesce to form lakes of pus. If left untreated it could lead to multiple organ failure and sepsis. It was one thing gathering the facts from a medical journal, or through conversations with dermatologists, and something else when hearing about it from Joyce Choo, a patient who has been living with the condition. She shared with us her GPP flares would often be so severe that she needed to be admitted to hospital for weeks at a time, and her pustules would ooze and make clothing and bedsheets stick to her skin. Even small movements such as raising an arm or turning in bed could be excruciatingly painful that she needed to be in a wheelchair to get about. But the most heartbreaking part about her story was being turned away from the swimming pool, even after assuring users that GPP is not contagious. For patients with GPP, hugs do not comfort, but cause pain and potentially exacerbate the condition. Like we say to our clients, patients are like gems, and Joyce is one of the rarer ones who has suffered and survived to tell her story of living with a visible skin condition that most people would keep under wraps. It's patient stories like these that make our work as healthcare communicators meaningful! The many top-tier media who attended and conducted interviews with Joyce and the other panellists made for a very pleasant bonus, thanks to Hyma Haridas, Mariel Chow, Sarah Selvarajah, Sharan Singh, John Battersby, Shah Rizal and Eugene Wong who worked hard behind the scenes to make this event a success! #healthcarecommunications #patientadvocacy #medicalcommunications #publichealth

35

Working in the healthtech space in Asia offers many personal opportunities to understand the need for what we do at Peach Health Asia. I've worked in pharma and medtech across the region for around 15 years, but rarely got the opportunity to directly engage with patients to the degree that happens in the digital health space. A more recent example of this was when we spoke to women in SE Asia about their journey going into and through menopause to understand if there was an un-met need in this space. It was eye opening to hear their challenges in understanding and finding support to deal with the changes they experience entering this stage of their life. Even more eye opening was I expected this in markets where the healthcare system is less developed, but I fell off my chair hearing similar issues in countries where the healthcare sector is well developed. The article below is a reminder of these challenges, a greater risk of cardiovascular disease is just one of the health concerns women face as they enter menopause. Digital health solutions that are a fit to the market need and address this un-met need can go part of the way to address some of the challenges facing women as they age. One of the challenges these products face is how to localise the solution to different market need. There can be big difference in how women in each country deal with healthy aging; access to information, cultural issues etc impact how to best 'fit' a a digital health product that meets the local needs. Access to healthcare in the local market also varies across the each country in the region. The issue above reflects a microcosm of a challenge facing digital health companies regardless of clinical focus; how can you adapt a digital health product and make it flexible enough that it can meet the need of disparate populations and markets across different countries.

14

1 Comment