The conference which took place on the 24th of April at the European School of Management and Technology Berlin explored the current state and the future of healthcare digitalisation in Asian countries. The questions raised during the conference were, amongst others:

• How would the the digital healthcare transformation in Asia look in the future?
• How will the healthcare digitalisation in Asia solve the challenges of increasingly common ‘life style diseases’ and the expanding healthcare costs?
• How are the Asian healthcare systems being shaped, and how would they compare to the Western ones?

As part of the Asia Pacific Week 2018, the event was organised by BGM Associates, the Asia-Pacific Forum Berlin in partnership with Health Capital - Berlin Partner for Business and Technology and the German Healthcare Partnership. For further details about the contributions please see the event programme.

Prof. Gert Bruche, Co-Founder and Partner at BGM Associates presented at the event on: Digital Healthcare Transformation and Artificial Intelligence – Where is China Heading?
You can view his presentation here.

​The Future of Medical Ultrasound Symposium, held from January 17th till 19th 2018, addressed the future potential of ultrasound technologies and solutions for medical diagnosis and therapy and brought together leading experts in the field from Europe and abroad. The Symposium was held at Charité, Berlin – one of the leading university hospitals in Europe, as a collaboration of Charité, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the German Röntgen Society (Deutsche Röntgengesellschaft).

​Prof. Dr. Hans Maier, Member of the Advisory Board of the Fraunhofer Institute for Medical Image Computing, delivered the welcome address alongside Prof. Dr. Bernd Hamm, Director of the Institute of Radiology at Charité, Prof. Dr. Horst Hahn, Director of Fraunhofer Institute for Medical Image Computing MEVIS, and Prof. Dr. Thomas Fischer, Head of Interdisciplinary Ultrasound Center Charité.

Link to the event page

Hans Maier was recently elected to the board of directors of Ascelia Pharma AB. The Malmö-based pharmaceutical company focuses on developing specialty oncological products.

Official press release

With the support of BGM Associates, ASAN Medical Center (AMC) – one of the leading hospitals in Seoul, South Korea – has entered into a Research and Development Collaboration Agreement with Piramal Imaging S.A.. The parties plan to conduct clinical studies at AMC with the intent of gaining regulatory approval for commercialization of innovative molecular tracers for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in South Korea.

The collaboration comprises novel molecular tracers for oncology, neurology and cardiovascular applications, including, for instance, imaging agents for the detection and quantification of tau tangles in the brain and thrombi in the vascular system.

Both parties intend to jointly assign a future commercial partner for the production, supply and the marketing of the 18F-based tracers in South Korea.
 
Official press release

As part of its 5-year anniversary, BGM organised an evening boat trip along the river Spree in Berlin with business partners from Germany and abroad, as well as representatives from the healthcare industry and the medical-scientific community.

​BGM Associates has assisted DuChemBio Co. Ltd. and Accera, Inc. to bring the proprietary medium chain triglyceride (MCT) technology to South Korea.

Accera, a leading CNS therapeutic company is focused on pioneering novel therapeutic approaches to treat neurodegenerative diseases caused by metabolic deficiencies, such as regional decreases in cerebral glucose metabolism associated with Alzheimer’s disease (see illustration). Accera’s proprietary MCT technology addresses this issue by providing the brain with ketone bodies, a natural alternative fuel to glucose.

DuChemBio has been active in the field of neurodegenerative diseases since 2012, primarily through commercializing nuclear medicine biomarkers for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. BGM Associates is supporting DuChemBio in its endeavor to fully develop and commercialize Accera’s technology.

​Link to press release

With the support of BGM Associates, DuChemBio Co. Ltd. – the leading radiopharmaceutical company in South Korea – has entered into a strategic partnership and licensing agreement with Cyclotek for Australian and New Zealand markets. The agreement will provide Cyclotek with exclusive rights to commercialize Parkinson’s disease diagnostic tracer - [18F]FP-CIT.

[18F]FP-CIT is a radio-pharmaceutical tracer developed by nuclear medicine team at Asan Medical Center – one of the largest hospitals in South Korea. The tracer is intended for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging of patients being evaluated for uncertain Parkinsonian syndrome. The product is an alternative to GE Healthcare’s DaTscan, and offers a clinical advantage over GE’s product thanks to the different imaging modality – PET instead of Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT).
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The agreement serves as the first step for DuChemBio and AMC to bring the proprietary tracer to the global markets with the support of BGM Associates.

Link to Asan Medical Center’s official announcement (in Korean)

In a German-Indian Round Table discussion in Berlin, Gert Bruche proposed that the prevailing China-centric perspective on Asia needs to broaden into a more multi-polar  approach to pursue business opportunities in four distinct Business Regions: China, India, ASEAN, and established Asia (Japan, Korea).

In this 'Asia Business 3.0' scenario, larger German Mittelstand companies have then to cope with the interrelated challenge of growing mid-markets for good-enough products and of the rise of new regional contenders (especially Chinese), often in the very same B2B markets where the German champions have built their strongholds. Addressing Asia as a 'second home' with the related changes in the global configuration and coordination of the value chain could prove the right strategic answer for many companies.

The presentation can be downloaded here.

In an interview with industry magazine European Hospital, our Managing Partner Hans Maier discusses the challenges and disruptions in the diagnostic imaging industry. Hans Maier summarises the current industrial and competitive dynamics in imaging and shares his thoughts on how increasing competition, novel technologies and a changing radiology service provider landscape set the industry in motion.

Link to interview at European Hospital 

​We are excited to announce that Prof. Dr. Heinz-Otto Peitgen has joined our Advisory Board. Heinz-Otto Peitgen is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Bremen University and Florida Atlantic University where he served for more than three decades.

​A pioneer in the study of fractal geometry and chaos theory, Prof. Peitgen has been instrumental in the digital transformation of image based diagnostics and surgery. He is the founder of Fraunhofer MEVIS, Institute for Medical Image Computing, and co-founder of MeVis Medical Solutions AG, which was acquired by Varian Medical Systems Inc., Palo Alto, last year. It is great to have him on board as a sparring partner and thought leader in shaping medicine for the 21st century.