2021 Cross-Border Healthcare Innovation & Partnership Summit: Summary and Outlook
On Jan 28th, the 2021 Cross-Border Healthcare Innovation & Partnership Summit was successfully held virtually by MSQ Ventures and Bayhelix. This summit consisted of in total 9 company presentations and a panel discussion on "Global Biopharma Collaboration Opportunities and Challenges in 2021". The summit and the panel were well-received and we got highly positive feedback. MSQ Ventures will continue to boost cross-border collaboration and communication in the biopharmaceutical industry.
Panel Discussion: Global Biopharma Collaboration Opportunities and Challenges in 2021
2020 has been a challenging year, but fortunately, the biopharma industry is still booming, and the global collaboration in terms of the number of cross-border transactions has reached new highs. We were honored to have Juho Jalkanen, Chief Development Officer at Faron Pharmaceuticals, and Alvin Luk, CEO at Neurophth Therapeutics to join our panel discussion, and discussed how they converted challenges into opportunities in 2020, and their forecasts for the year 2021.
Here’s a brief summary of the content covered during the panel discussion:
What are the Positive Sides of the Pandemic to the Global Pharma Industry?
More Interaction under the Virtual Setting:
Because of the traveling restrictions, activities were converted to virtual. For conferences like the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in January, there were actually more meetings and interactions achieved in less time compared to previous years;
More Global Collaboration in Clinical Trials:
Different geographic locations were impacted differently in terms of the delays in clinical trials. For trial sites in Europe, areas like Netherland and Finland were recruiting normally, while other areas such as the UK were stuck in the pandemic. And in Asia, China has started to enroll patients regularly since May 2020. This difference has actually resulted in more global site selections and collaboration to balance the situation.
Remote Clinical Trial Monitoring and Management：
The technology and tools for remote monitoring and management of clinical trials have been in place, including virtual site initiation, patient tracking system on mobile phones, and online file submission. And the regulatory authorities are positive about this trend. While the US is advanced in remote monitoring, China NMPA is open-minded and ready to discuss the implementation and processes in detail.
Global Biopharma Collaboration and China Opportunities:
There is an increasing need for global or territory partners, such as a Chinese partner to make use of the big pool of patients. China has joined the ICH in 2017 and now is a driving force for global collaboration. On the one hand, there has been huge government and regulatory support to push China to become an innovator rather than a fast-follower. In 2020, China's cross-border out-licensing deals totaled 32, and in comparison, the total number of out-licensing transactions for China between 2007-2019 was 37. In the near future, we expect to see more out-licensing deals from China to the US & Europe. And now China has its own domestically developed PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor products.
On the other hand, in order for China to become a leading biotech superpower and develop completely new targets, China needs to have a more foundational training of science, to step outside the comfort zone and embrace a risk-taking mentality.
How the New Leadership of President Biden Will Impact Global Collaboration?
The US is coming back to the international table and international dialogue. We expect there will be more Europe-China collaboration, and we hope in 2021 the establishment of a well-connected eco-system could benefit more global patients.
What’s the Next Technology for Oncology Especially for Immuno-Oncology?
For immuno-oncology including checkpoint inhibitors and T-cell activation, the major resistances why T-cells do not work are macrophages, fibroblast, and so on. Therefore, unless removing these roadblocks, it will not work no matter how much effort is put on T-cells. And this is the place where the next breakthrough should be made.
What’s more, the breakthrough point for certain radiotherapy and chemotherapy is the combo or triple treatment. In the gene therapy area, you can use the virus, stem cell, ex vivo, and the non-viral method to help lower host immunogenicity and avoid insertional mutagenesis.
Forecast for 2021:
In 2021, the current virtual trend will continue and accelerate collaboration further, and we hope to see more cooperation within this industry as well as between the biopharma industry and academia.
Company Presentation
There were in total 9 companies presenting their assets during the summit. The companies were: Alligator Bioscience, American Gene Technology, Chimeric Therapeutics, Crinetics Pharma, Igia Pharmaceuticals, Imugene, ISOThrive, Navitas Pharma, and SCM Lifescience.
In all, this summit was an inspiring and productive experience, and MSQ Ventures was thankful to all the participants and attendants for joining this summit with us. We hope to see you again at our next event in April!