Singapore: Zuellig Pharma investing S$50m in its first health innovation center

The ZHS has entered into a MoUMoUMemorandum of Understanding with the National Health Group of Singapore to create predictive models for early detection of diseases and for analysis of treatment costs and quality, by using data analysis systems.

In the second half of 2017, it plans to launch in the city-state a mobile application designed to help patients better manage their chronic diseases.

As part of the creation of this new center, Zuellig Pharma is looking for over 50 healthcare, technology and data experts based in Singapore.

As the first and only company's innovation center, the ZHS will be the center of all development work in the field of data, digital and diseases management solutions that will allow physicians to develop more efficient treatment plans, better support patients with chronic diseases and help payers to manage their healthcare costs.

The ZHS will also be a test bench for eHealth solutions, such as chat bots, online consultations with nurses and various mobile health applications before a deployment in the rest of Asia, said Maarten Kelder, Zuellig Pharma's head of strategy and solutions.

The ZHS will focus primarily on on addressing existing gaps in the healthcare sector in Asia, including access to care.

According to the World Health Organization, nearly 130 million people in Southeast Asia do not have access to essential health care services. Thanks to its new center, Zuellig Pharma would like to facilitate access to these services into the second and third-tier cities in the region.

"Take Vietnam for example, the local industry has always been centred on Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi or Da Nang. If you live in the rural areas, you will not have access to higher-end medicine from abroad," said John Davison, the CEO of the company.

The creation of the new Zuellig Pharma's innovation center comes after the recent transfer of the headquarters of the firm from Hong Kong to Singapore.

M. Davison said he made that decision because many of the company's clients in the pharmaceutical industry and the consumer health sector, such as GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, are based in the city-state. "And if you look at the ecosystem for digital technologies and big data, Singapore is the leading centre. So for me, Singapore is the obvious choice," he added in an interview with Channel NewsAsia.

In addition, the firm has been in Singapore since 1939. Founded in 1922, it now has over 800 employees in the city-state and have an almost billion-dollar business here. "[This] is not a strange place for us."

"Another advantage which is often overlooked is that by locating in Singapore, (...) Zuellig Pharma's management team will be located very close to the decision makers of many of its key clients... This offers opportunities for partnerships and supplier relationships which would not be so easily established if your clients are located (hours-long) flights away," said Beh Swan Gin, chairman of the EDB, present at launch.