Quotable: Words Of Wisdom From Our Recent APAC Coverage
Executive Summary
Scrip's APAC team selects notable quotes from recent interviews, conferences and other coverage to highlight the views of senior executives and officials on the major topics facing the biopharma industry in the region.
During the course of conducting interviews, attending conferences and providing other coverage of the region, Scrip's team in APAC often hears comments and views that are worth highlighting by themselves, valuable for the insights and perspectives they provide from those on the front lines on key topics of interest to the biopharma industry.
Below, we have selected the most notable recent quotes from CEOs, other senior executives and regulatory officials that you may have missed in our coverage over the past few months, along with a link to the wider story in which they originally appeared.
“I'm a true believer of thinking through this even if it hurts your current operating model….if you don't do this rest assured someone else will disrupt you, someone else will cannibalize you.”
Michael Kurr, Boehringer Ingelheim's global head of human pharma services, on the importance of generative AI.
Read More: How Boehringer, Lilly Are Taming The GenAI Dragon For Regulatory, Commercial Content
“It will be very hard to function and do any kind of engagement or marketing without having first-party data in the future.”
Bozidar Jovicevic, CEO, Evermed, on a "cookie-less" world as browsers block third-party cookies.
Read More: Apple, Google’s Cookie-Less World To Social Media, What Is Pharma's Digital Marketing Strategy?
“We're not for sale… it's not in our consideration set…that doesn’t just reflect in what I'm saying, it reflects in the actions that we are taking.”
Nilesh Gupta, Managing Director, Lupin Ltd, when asked if the founding family plans to pare its stake in the company.
Read More: A Decade At The Top: Lupin MD On Listing Adjacencies, Creating Healthcare Continuum
“[Before the pandemic] they [Korean bioventures] used to look at the US market only, while Japanese startups were aimed at launching products in the domestic market. After the pandemic, they [Korean firms] started to consider other options such as growing their seeds [drug candidates] for the Japanese market first, then to enter the US market.”
Toshio Fujimoto, CEO of the Shonan iPark biocluster in Japan, on the idea of collaborating with Korean bioventures.
Read More: Japan’s Largest Biocluster, Korean Ventures To Collaborate For Cell And Gene Therapies
The deal “will help us deliver on our obligation to deliver these potential new DXd ADCs [antibody-drug conjugates] to more patients as quickly as possible.”
Daiichi Sankyo CEO Sunao Manabe, on the Japanese firm's massive global alliance with Merck & Co. for three ADCs.
Read More: Daiichi In Massive $22bn Global Deal With Merck & Co For Three ADCs
“It can be innovative in China. Drug development is more of an engineering job than rocket science.”
Gracell Bio CEO William Wei Cao, on China's potential to emerge as a site for global biopharma R&D.
Read More: China CEO Interview: Gracell Aims To Enter US CAR-T Sector Through Partnerships, Faster Delivery
“We just need to carry on with the efforts to make happen more and better innovation that can meet clinical needs.”
Jiaqiang Cai, Medilink’s co-founder & chief scientific officer on the Chinese biotech’s potentially over $1bn licensing deal on its HER3-targeting ADC with BioNtech.
Read More: BioNTech In Another China ADC Deal, This Time With Medilink
“Reliance on out-licensing is something like an addiction. It provides a short-term fix, but can end negatively. This can create a vicious circle that can be hard to escape, making it more difficult to achieve sustained long-term growth and maturity.”
Timothy Pang, managing vice-president of Citeline Consulting & Analytics, on the negative aspect of over-reliance on out-licensing, at a recent symposium in Seoul organized by the Korea Drug Development Fund.
Read More: How Korea Can Avoid Pitfalls Of Over-Reliance On Out-Licensing
“Now, it is time to realign and thoroughly calculate how much each asset contributes. Assets which don’t have value at present, even if they have sufficient future value, will have to be put on hold temporarily. We need to focus on projects that can bring about results in the near term,” such as those with high scientific value.
Jamie Jae Eun Kim, CEO of 1ST Biotherapeutics, Inc., on unlisted bioventures’ survival strategy during a talk show at recent KoNECT international conference.
Read More: Traversing The Dark Tunnel: Biopharma Stakeholder Survival Strategies
"Apple’s entry into the space ignites interest and serves as a reinforcement for organizations that were undecided about investing in the metaverse. It brings the metaverse back to the discussion table for those organizations that had dismissed it as being too early."
Tarun Mathur, Indegene’s chief technology officer, who believes 2024 will see an inflection point, with increasing demand for metaverse applications that complement or fully integrate with non-metaverse apps.
Read More: Life Sciences Scaling Adoption Of New Metaverse, AI Tools
"I have learned that a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work. It's crucial to tailor our approaches to the unique needs of each region. What works in one country may not work in another.”
Gamze Yüceland, Takeda’s president, growth and emerging markets, on keeping decisions as close to patients as possible to alleviate local barriers to access.
Read More: Takeda Exec On Access Strategies To Fit Local Contexts, Trial Inclusivity
“There are conscious calls being taken whether it makes sense to have the family run the business or whether they are better off monetizing and considering diversifications.”
Navroz Mahudawala, founder and MD of investment bank Candle Partners, on family-owned Indian pharma firms that have the second or third generation at the helm, who are now evaluating whether they want to be in the business, or not.
Read More: India M&A Hourglass: Control Deals, ‘FOMO’, Monetization Calls At Family-Owned Firms