New Vision, New Future, creating a smarter world for all

Ti Gong

Dr Damian O’Connell is CEO at the Experimental Drug Development Centre, a national platform for drug and biomarker discovery as well as early clinical development.

He previously has held senior positions at a number of multinational drug companies and has both MD & PhD degrees from the National University of Ireland. He will join the forum discussion “The future of health; health and biomedical science technologies that will transform healthcare from therapies to predictive and preventive medicine” at the Pujiang Innovation Forum. 

Q: What’s your understanding of the theme “New Vision and New Future of Science and Technology Innovation?”

A: The key word here is “New.” The theme would require us to imagine a novel model of conducting science that would result in a paradigm shift for any nation wishing technology to play a major part in its economy.

Five years ago, the answer was artificial intelligence. Ten years ago, smartphones, personal devices and telecommunications. Twenty-five years ago, it was the Internet.

I see an increasing convergence between different technologies. In the digital world, synthetic materials, automation and manipulation of genetic data, knowledge from real-world databases on human diseases.

These are opportunities for countries like China and Singapore to be more productive. Especially in areas such as health care where disruptive science and technology continues to offer new solutions to stressed global health care systems in the face of a growing and aging population.

For example, advancements in synthetic biology will offer reliable and reproducible materials that enable the creation of novel devices and systems, as well as the re-design of existing natural systems. Another example would be the related discipline of regenerative medicine, which may one day revolutionize the treatment of heart disease and neuro-degenerative disorders, solve the shortage of organ donors and completely restore damaged tissues.  

Q: What do you think about the capability of early-stage drug discovery and research in China?

A: The Chinese government is committed to seeing China become a global player in innovative drug discovery and development.

China started out with a great emphasis on generics and service units, however, research into novel drugs has risen greatly. The advantage that China has over many of her competitors is scale. China is a quick adopter of technology, from genetics to AI.

This quick embrace of innovation in platforms has allowed China to accelerate the discovery and development of novel and innovative drugs in an unprecedented manner.

China has significant disease burdens with liver disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, along with diabetes, which are all on the rise. China has 1.4 billion people, meaning that there is a high demand for medical supplies and care. The Chinese government realizes that dealing with these major diseases and an aging population requires the development of a strong, innovative indigenous pharmaceutical industry.

Furthermore, we are also seeing drug discovery scientists who have trained and made their mark in multinational pharma returning to China to be a part of new China pharma and to lead drug research efforts.

Q: What’s the challenge to raise the efficiency for the commercialization of drug candidates?

A: New product development is typically a critical organizational priority. Therefore, when the long, difficult and costly development process is finally coming to fruition. Hopes are high, and the pressure is on for successful commercialization.

It is also important to further understand what meaningful data will need to be generated during the clinical development stage of the drug, to allow for regulatory approval and appropriate reimbursement.

The launch process is fraught with its own set of struggles, namely, increased regulation, market access barriers, low-coverage rates, supply chain challenges and many other risks. If mishandled, these can result in missed opportunities for patients and loss of market share to competitors.

Integrating project, program and portfolio management leadership into the product commercialization life cycle can help ease these challenges by ensuring all required efforts are identified, prioritized, assigned, planned and managed as part of a comprehensive commercialization strategy. 

Q: How does digital trends and advancement in AI help with drug R&D?

A: AI can help pharma companies win the productivity race by increasing speed and cost efficiency while maintaining high levels of compliance and reducing human error.

AI can also optimize innovation, improve the efficiency of research and build new tools for physicians, consumers, insurers and regulators. This will help drive companies toward a more personalized value proposition, which also fulfils the promise of more personalized health care solutions.

AI will drive sophisticated predictive modelling of biological processes and drugs. By leveraging the big data sets of available molecular and clinical data, AI could help identify new potential-candidate molecules with a high probability of being successfully developed into drugs that act on biological targets safely and effectively.

Digital tools will also help identify patients for clinical trials from a wider range of sources. For example, from social media instead of just clinical trial screening visits. The penetration of data-enabled phones and use of multifunctional messaging apps such as WeChat allows for contact with patient groups across a wider geographic area. And with multiple data sources, those conducting clinical trials can target specific populations, enabling trials that are smaller, shorter and less expensive.

Ong Choon Nam is professor at the National University of Singapore Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and principal investigator of the NUS Environmental Research Institute.

His main research interests are identification and validation of biomarkers for environmental exposure, diet and disease and molecular toxicology.

He also served as an advisor to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, US National Water Research Institute, and has been consulted often by international health agencies on issues related to environmental health.

He will join the forum discussion “Sustainable environmental technologies to create sustainable, resilient and liveable cities of the future” at the Pujiang Innovation Forum.

Q: What’s your understanding of the theme “New Vision and New Future of Science and Technology Innovation?”

A: Innovation is about the creation and implementation of new ideas to create new value.

It is imperative, especially so in a rapidly globalizing and challenging world.

For me, “New Vision and New Future of Innovations” are no longer restricted to creating value or wealth for individuals or organizations, they should ultimately create a better future where people can enjoy a better quality of life.  

Q: What’s your experience of research collaboration with local research institutions and universities?

A: We have been collaborating with CAS-IUE and Shanghai Jiao Tong University for many years. I feel a common vision and interests are very critical for research collaboration. We believed that working together could achieve new heights and not purely for short-term benefit. We initiated partnerships for mutual leverage of our strengths and abilities, and are confident that collaboration will lead to better impact.

Complementary skills and experience are also important. So far, we are very pleased, as they have led to many fruitful results such as graduate students’ training, joint intellectual property applications and scientific publications. In addition to international academic activities, our innovative ideas have been test-bedded in both China and Singapore.

Q: What’s the current status for urban development and environment-related research in China? What can be better improved?

A: Globally, China is the most populous country, and there are now more people living in these rapidly developing urban megacities than in the countryside. The large cities are facing many challenging environmental issues, such as clean water, energy, and food supplies. Nevertheless, challenges also brought along excellent opportunities to implement new innovative ideas and technology to improve our environment.

I noted over the past 10 years tremendous effort and resources have been put in to improve the environment in China, especially clean energy, control of air pollution and treatment of water pollution.

Besides treatment, prevention is now also taking an important role in China. In overcoming water pollution, the setting up of the “River Chief System” is a unique Chinese way to ensure the water ecosystem is lively and healthy. An integrated ecosystem strategy by linking the nexus of air, water, energy and land will be an efficient and sustainable approach to overcome environmental issues than addressing individual challenges on its own.     

Q: Why is it important for universities like NUS to help sponsor start-ups of students and research staff?

A: Besides being a knowledge base, the universities should also act as “knowledge powerhouses.” Globally, many established institutions are putting lots of emphasis on helping students and staff to translate ideas through university-supported start-ups and to commercialize their products. Universities should provide good platforms to inculcate and attract entrepreneurial students to share their knowledge beyond campus.   

Q: What’s the preferable mechanism for research ideas to be applied into a real life scenario and benefit the mass population? What kind of experience can be shared with Shanghai government bodies and stakeholders?

A: When there is a need for something essential, you will find ways of doing it. I do see there are lots of environmental challenges such as air, water and soil pollution. They call for innovative ideas to overcome these challenges to create a better future where people can enjoy a better quality of life.

I have two examples to share of our experiences where universities in Singapore also play their role — on water and food security. Over the past 20 years, Singapore has managed to transform itself from a water-scarce to a water-secure nation.

We have tapped every opportunity to collect, treat, reuse and produce necessary water resources. As for food security, we dream of becoming a city that would be able to produce 30 percent of food locally, instead of importing almost all our nutritional need.