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Why Phase Scientific, a biotech start-up backed by Bill Gates, choseHong Kong over Silicon Valley as a launch pad for its globalambitionsPUBLISHED : Tuesday, 11 September, 2018, 9:30amUPDATED : Tuesday, 11 September, 2018, 9:30am

Eric Ng eric.mpng@scmp.com

A medical diagnostics start-up which is about to launch a US$10 tooth decay risk detection kithas chosen to locate its global headquarters to Hong Kong in the hope of gaining better accessto China’s growing health care market.

Phase Scientific International, founded six years ago by Hong Kong-born chairman Ricky ChiuYin-to, says cross-border opportunities have played a role in its decision to choose Hong Kong,even as the city has yet to be internationally recognised as a major biotechnology hub.

“Hong Kong is our base for developing the mainland market and the rest of the world outside theUS,” Chiu, who is also CEO, said in an interview with the Post from his office in Kwun Tong.“Applying a US government endorsed technology in China, the world’s most populous market, isa compelling business opportunity.”

Phase Scientific has raised more than US$10 million from backers that include the Bill andMelinda Gates Foundation, US governmental agencies National Science Foundation andNational Institute of Health, as well as Joseph Tam, founder and chairman of DiagCorBioscience.

Phase Scientific International has established its global headquarters in Kwun Tong, HongKong. Photo: Edmond So

Phase Scientific is seeking to commercialise a patented sample preparation methodology thatimproves the accuracy of biological diagnostic tests by concentrating and purifying targetmolecules.

Chiu say the company is about to release its first diagnostic product – a tooth decay riskdetection kit that can be used “any time, anywhere, without the need for trained personnel orpower source”.

Chiu, a Hongkonger who moved to the US to pursue advanced studies in bioengineering,founded the company while a PhD student at University of California in Los Angeles.

After three years and six unsuccessful applications for a government research grant, he won hisfirst round of funding approval in 2014.

Although the US biotechnology scene is more mature, with a large pool of venture capital andsophisticated investors, Chiu said the prospects for securing funding in China were a factor indeciding to headquarter in Hong Kong, where there’s less competition from rival biotechnologycompanies.

“In China, the funding pool could potentially be even bigger but there is a shortage of qualityprojects. I believe we are in a more advantageous position for fundraising here,” he said.

Phase Scientific aims to obtain European and Hong Kong regulatory approval to market byyear-end a test kit that warns users of tooth decay risks, through the detection of theconcentration of a bacteria that plays a key role in causing dental degeneration.

Phase Scientific hopes to begin distributing its US$10 tooth decay risk detection kit, Indicaid,in Hong Kong by year end. Photo: Edmond So

Chiu said a US dental insurer had pushed for the development of the kit to help stem dentaltreatment costs.

With a suggested retail price of HK$79 (US$10.06) per test, the kit – with recommended usagefrequency of two to four times a year – is expected to be sold in Hong Kong pharmacies.

Chiu is hoping to attract at least HK$100 million of new funding to support clinical efficacy andsafety studies on similar test kits that screen for sexually-transmitted diseases, malaria and theflu.

“We aim to provide tests that are faster, cheaper, simpler than laboratory tests,” Chiu said. “Themore widely-used and accessible they are, the more people can detect them and get treatmentearlier, or change their behaviour to prevent getting diseases such as tooth decay.”

It will cost US$3 million to US$5 million to conduct clinical studies and obtain regulatoryapproval for test kits in each market, he added.

The company plans to double its headcount in Hong Kong to 40 within two years. It currentlyemploys 20 staff in Orange County, California, half of which are involved in research anddevelopment.

Phase Scientific is also looking to opportunities in the lab-based diagnostic market, and has setup a unit in Suzhou, Jiangsu province for sampling and analysis of non-solid biological tissue,Chiu said.

The company is also seeking to collaborate with DNA sequencing and molecular diagnosticfirms to deploy its sample preparation methodology and develop more accurate and cheapercancer screening and non-invasive prenatal DNA tests.

Topics: ScienceTechnologyPharmaceuticalsMedicineHong Kong cancer therapy

More on this: China focused UK-based maker of affordable DNA sequencing kits eyes Hong Kong listing [1]Why DNA testing kit makers are investing in China [2]

Source URL: https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2163572/why-phase-scientific-biotech-start-backed-bill-gates-chose-hong?edition=internationalLinks[1] https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2151227/china-focused-uk-based-maker-affordable-dna-sequencing-kits-eyes[2] https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2157383/why-dna-testing-kit-makers-are-investing-china