The Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELS), a public organisation, and PhenoMx, Inc., a US-based health technology company, announced the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop strategic initiatives for Thailand in the biomedical, life science and medical device industries. Specific focus areas include artificial intelligence, big data and medical imaging, with potential projects including ageing cohort studies, biobanking and national dementia screening, as well as other highly prevalent conditions.
TCELS was established in 2004 by the government of Thailand with the core intention of providing the central link between innovation and investment and facilitating domestic and international partnerships in life sciences business in Thailand. It is a public organization and functions under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Founded in New York City, 2017, PhenoMx aims to transform global healthcare delivery by leveraging the full potential of MRI. By promoting an upstream, quantitative imaging solution, PhenoMx technology can monitor and measure organ-specific, regional, or whole-body phenotypic changes to an individual’s body, over time.
As part of its Thailand 4.0 initiative, the Thai Government wants to make the country a leading destination for pharmaceuticals and medical devices and a world-class provider of medical care, which should enhance the public and healthcare infrastructure in Thailand, benefiting millions of patients and contributing to the creation of new jobs.
The collaboration involves matching companies and research institutes in Thailand and the US to encourage more interaction between different stakeholders in the industry, as well as fostering innovation and commercialisation in the biomedical, life science and medical device industries.
TCELS has taken part in value chain development of the life sciences industry, supporting entrepreneurs in Thailand and research from upstream to downstream to meet national demand.
Thailand’s medical equipment industry has bright prospects with an average growth of 8.5 to 10 percent annually between 2016 and 2019, a figure higher than the global average largely due to the country’s ageing population. It is also driven by medical tourism, which is growing by 10 percent a year, and the government is reinforcing its policy to make Thailand the medical hub of the region.
The agreement was signed by Dr Nares Damrongchai, CEO of TCELS, and Mark Punyanitya, Co-founder and CEO of PhenoMx, during the recent Bio Investment Asia Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, where Mr Punyanitya presented an update on “Artificial Intelligence and Big Data in Medical Imaging”.
Sources
- https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/10/28/1936041/0/en/Thailand-to-develop-strategic-initiatives-in-the-biomedical-life-science-and-medical-device-industries-in-collaboration-with-PhenoMx-Inc-a-US-healthtech-company.html
- http://www.tcels.or.th/AboutTCELS/Overview/History
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/phenomx/about/
