Medical Supplies & Medicine
GBA grows into healthcare hub
Health summit boosts medical hub credentials
Hong Kong earlier this month hosted its second Asia Summit on Global Health (ASGH), as the city continues to garner international attention after further loosening COVID-19 restrictions. This year’s theme – “Charting a New Course in Healthcare through Collaboration” resonated strongly with Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab (main picture), Deputy Director-General of the World Health Organization. In her video speech at the event’s opening session, Dr Jakab said the pandemic had infected more than 600 million people globally and claimed 6.5 million lives, so there was an “opportunity and, indeed, an obligation to learn from this pandemic” and accelerate progress on universal healthcare through concerted efforts in science, research, innovation, data and digital technologies.
Healthcare start-up hits a high note
A serial entrepreneur based in Hong Kong for more than 20 years, France-born Sophie Martineau set up her medical supplies business Aquila Healthcare under the brand AquilaVIE in 2020. The launch was in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, when demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks rapidly outpaced supply.
IP protection lures Japanese chain
As an international financial centre, Hong Kong is an ideal development base for many overseas enterprises – and the city’s attraction is enhanced by the comprehensive protection its intellectual property laws provide. Some well-known Japanese chain drugstores have chosen to open stores in Hong Kong, and have applied for trademark registration to enhance consumers' recognition of their brands.
Decoding viral evolution
A team from the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Medicine has developed patent technologies that can help pharmaceutical companies improve vaccine effectiveness of their products and efficiency of developing vaccines. The start-up has already signed cooperation agreements with a number of pharmaceutical companies to co-develop vaccines.
In-body robots bring benefits
The parasitic alien life form is a favourite theme for sci-fi film producers – the Venom and Alien series are two examples that come to mind. In a case of science imitating art, a team of Hong Kong-based researchers have drawn inspiration from Venom to develop a therapeutic invasive slime.
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