Asia Healthcare Podcast

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:

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)

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:

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:

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

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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.

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 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

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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 (renamed as HutchMed since March 2021), 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 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:

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.

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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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

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