Philips and Singapore (EDBI) : a partnership to support digital health companies in Asia
Singapour - Published Monday, July 11, 2016 - 17:10 - #879 In January 2016, Royal PhilipsPhilips (or Philips healthcare) and EDBI, the corporate investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDBEDBLe département du développement économique de Singapour (The Economic Development Board)) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).The purpose of this partnership is to jointly invest in high-potential digital health companies that want to break into the Singapore market and, eventually, in the Asian market.
Six month after signing the MoU, the Dutch group says more to H&TI about this huge project. This talk is divided into tree parts :
1.the objectives of the agreement between Philips and EDBI;
2.the progress of the program;
3.the strategic choice to set up in Singapore.
© Philips Communications
The objectives of the partnership between Philips and EDBI
One of the main objective of this partnership is to strengthen the country’s leading position as the main Asian medical center.. - © Philips Communications
1.The main objective is “to build a robust digital health ecosystem that will serve the needs of a growing and aging population in Singapore and Asia,” a spokesman for Philips in ASEAN Pacific said to H&TI.
How? By investing in select promising e-health companies, especially in Population Health Management (PHM). These are companies from around the world “seeking to break into the Asian market through Singapore”.
2.“Another key objective of this partnership is to fuel the growth of innovative digital health companies by enabling access to Philips experts, our ecosystem of healthcare solutions and our extensive global network,” Philips said.
These goals will help:
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to develop Singapore's workforce in order to strengthen the country's leading position as the main Asian medical hub;Philips approach the goal of medium-term: to improve the lives of three million people a year by 2025.
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to bring Philips closer to its medium-term goal: “improving the lives of three billion people a year by 2025”.
Philips believes in the e-health market potential
“Philips actively participates in open innovation through relationships with academic and industrial partners and we believe that there are major opportunities in the digital health space, Philips spokesman said. The rising cost of care, rapidly aging population and increasing number of chronic diseases have created more pressure for the healthcare industry to move towards integrated systems and value-based business models.”
The companies selected for the Philips and EDBI program are still unknown
The two partners have not spoken publici about their current projects yet. “The intended timeframe of this Memorandum of Understanding is three years and digital health companies are being evaluated on a case-by-case basis,” Philips said.
Digital health companies are being evaluated on a case-by-case basis The Dutch group and EDBI will jointly decide “on investments based on the digital health company’s ability to drive disruptive innovations in telehealth and telemonitoring, healthcare informatics, as well as technologies that address the healthcare challenges in Asia”.
The importance of big data in the program
The selected companies will use the Philips' HealthSuite digital platform, a cloud-based secure website that collects and analyzes health data from different devices. These will be able to develop applications to enhance the platform.
Singapore: a renowned health center
Singapore is renowned for the high quality of its healthcare system. “Its forward looking ecosystem encourages co-innovation between healthcare providers, governments and other industry players.”
The partnership with EDBI will also enable “foreign and local digital health companies to set up base in Singapore and leverage the country’s advanced infrastructure and pro-business policy to expand beyond Singapore and across the wider Asia region, including other markets like Indonesia and Thailand”.
EDBI’s investment programs are effective
EDBI’s investment programs are effective
On its webiste, EDBI says they realized more than forty investments and attracted top talent over the past twenty-five year, to make Singapore the most important hub for biomedical sciences in Asia.
Many of the portfolio companies coming from EDBI's investment programs are now Nasdaq-listed, Med Device Online US website noted.
