The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) helped the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) reach a research agreement with AI Medical Service (AIM) – a Japanese medical start-up which develops artificial intelligence (AI) endoscopic diagnostic technology – to accelerate development, promote it in Hong Kong and enhance clinical application in other Asian economies.
With the theme of Reimagining the Future of Healthcare, the third Asia Summit on Global Health (ASGH) runs in Hong Kong on 17 and 18 May. The conference assembles stakeholders – from healthcare experts to renowned academia and influential business leaders, together with key industry players, innovative start-ups, investors and policymakers – from around the world to exchange insights, explore opportunities and collaborate on the diverse and dynamic healthcare sector.
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.
A professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has established a firm, EggLogics Limited (EggLogics), that has developed patented technology to increase the success rate for in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) through egg “recharging”, bringing new hope to families troubled by fertility problems.
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.
Bespoke gourmet shops marketing through platforms such as Instagram and Facebook are proliferating. Hong Kong start-up Calioo saw the pain points boutique caterers were experiencing – from receiving orders to delivery – and decided to address the issue, developing an online-to-offline (O2O) platform to help them solve problems and increase turnover.
As the shift to vegetarian diets becomes more deeply rooted in Hong Kong, local start-ups are seizing the opportunity to develop new food technologies. Hong Kong start-up Good Food Technologies has developed a plant-based pork substitute made from konjac (a root vegetable widely cultivated in Asia), coconut oil and soyabeans. The firm's first round of financing attracted HK$12 million (US$1.53 million) which will be used to build new production facilities, develop retail capabilities and grow beyond Hong Kong.
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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