Global Health: Connectiveness for Better Outcomes | Asia Summit 2024

Snow Research Foundation Investment Strategy (Tom Snow)

• Invested over $200 million to date in medical research, specifically targeting cancer and presbycusis (hearing loss) via an agnostic platform approach.
• Deployed a "Snow Fellowship" providing $1 million annually for eight years to fund early-stage researchers, bypassing traditional academic short-term cycles.
• Targeted demographics for funding include young researchers, women, and non-Australian talent from across Asia and globally to avoid bias toward older, established male academics.
• Shifted funding incentives from purely grant-based to include equity funding to encourage entrepreneurship and commercialization of research.
• Established a $100 million, ten-year commitment to immunology research, aiming to treat systemic immune dysregulation rather than individual disease symptoms.
• Identified success metrics focused on transitioning early-stage research to commercial application and bedside treatments within 1–2 years via improved data integration.
• Leveraged Australia's plan for a single integrated Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system to accelerate clinical trials and patient data collection.

Mubadala Healthcare Investment Strategy (Lina Al Jaber)

• As a sovereign wealth fund with over $302 billion in assets under management, Mubadala aims to increase its Asia exposure from the current 12% to 25% within a defined horizon.
• Prioritizes "country-by-country" market analysis to identify specific pain points, regulatory nuances, and unmet needs across diverse Asian markets.
• Operates on a partnership model emphasizing knowledge and capability exchange, utilizing local country leads to mitigate execution risks.
• India: Invested alongside TPG in Manipal Hospitals to scale high-quality, patient-centric care for a rising middle-income class.
• South Korea: Partnered with MBK and Unison Capital to acquire Austin (dental implants) and leverage local expertise in surgical robotics and minimally invasive spine surgery.
• China: Partnered with Seabridge Capital to carve out and scale mature pharma portfolios, specifically focusing on Central Nervous System (CNS) treatments like epilepsy for underpenetrated rural markets.
• Japan: Targeting the aging population (30% over age 65) for investments in long-term care, elderly care, and remote monitoring technologies.
• Focusing on women's health across services and pharma to address historical gaps in clinical trial inclusion and metabolic differences.
• Acknowledges capital deployment challenges in Asia, requiring smaller ticket sizes and deeper partnerships to match Western-scale deployment efficiency.

TPG Capital Asia Healthcare Strategy (Ganon Savaranthan)

• Healthcare is TPG's single largest sector, managing $35 billion in assets across the region with 250 employees in nine cities.
• Invested in Levitic, an Australian-born CRO (Contract Research Organization) now serving as a primary hub for 6,000+ Asia-based clinical trials generating 60 drugs.
• Shifted focus toward "value-based healthcare," targeting secondary hospitals, smaller tertiary centers, and preventative care like blood testing to increase awareness in Southeast Asia.
• Addressed the global shortage of allied health professionals by investing in the International Medical University to train doctors and nurses for the region.
• Targeting $1 billion+ exits for portfolio companies established over five years ago, focusing on scaling infrastructure and service delivery.
• Expanding into over-the-counter (OTC) non-prescription medication to reduce costs and increase consumer access, including acquisitions of brands like Betadine and The Flam.
• Identifying AI and digital health as critical technologies for managing a region projected to hold 60% of the global population over age 65 by 2030.

Regional Trends and Forward-Looking Statements

• Demographics: Asia faces a unique convergence of rapid aging (notably in Japan and South Korea) and a rising middle class, creating simultaneous demand for chronic disease management and high-quality infrastructure.
• Innovation Gap: Significant opportunity exists to translate academic research into commercial products, as current funding models often fail to bridge the gap between discovery and bedside application.
• Collaboration Imperative: All panelists emphasized that no single entity can solve regional health challenges alone; success depends on sovereign wealth funds, private equity, and research foundations forming deep, multi-party partnerships.
• Market Specificity: Strategies must be tailored to individual markets rather than applying a monolithic approach to the diverse Asian region, accounting for varying regulatory landscapes and infrastructure maturity.