Panel, Fireside Chat, Conference Presentation
Hacking Health: The Future of Humankind
Milken InstituteJeannette Ickovics, Jeremy Cao, Julien de Salaberry, Christopher Hall, Joseph Wong, Lihan Zhou, Chris Hall, Lee Han, Julian DeSalveri, Ritesh Maishuri, Laura Entwistle, Mark Blythery, Dan Galpin
- Global health spending is projected to exceed $18 trillion worldwide by 2040, with ten new health apps anticipated to launch every three minutes.
- The digital health market in the Asia-Pacific region is forecast to remain the second largest globally, driven by China's data volume advantage and rapid innovation in Southeast Asia and India.
- Funding in digital health for H1 2018 reached $3.3 billion, approaching the US total of $3.4 billion, while governments in Asia are becoming more progressive in prevention and digital therapeutics.
- The aging population in Asia is expected to reach retirement age within the next 5 to 10 years, a trend AID Group plans to address by supporting new health tech companies, particularly for early cancer detection.
- Meraxis aims to survive its next two years, leveraging a liquid biopsy test using qPCR technology to detect cancer early and reduce costs by ruling out unnecessary gastric scopes.
- BGI plans to transition from genomic understanding to editing and writing genomes from scratch, with sequencing costs expected to drop below $1,000 within two to three days.
- Fitbit intends to utilize its 150 billion hours of heart rate monitoring data for machine learning to personalize solutions, while partnering with Google to aggregate data into hospital EHRs and develop AI.
- Investors are expected to prioritize teams capable of innovation and perseverance, focusing on verified pain points and ensuring clinical efficacy rather than rushing products to market.
- Digital platforms are predicted to drive the patient journey in Asia, as self-paying patients become the primary drivers, shifting the focus from curing to prevention and value-based care.
- Challenges remain in monetizing prevention, as the current business case is unproven compared to curing, and direct model transfer between markets is hindered by differing affordability and reimbursement systems.
- Technical, policy, ethical, and public awareness hurdles persist regarding genome editing, alongside the risk that current biotech research ROI is dropping and over 80% of funding may be wasted.
- High costs, such as Gilead's $375,000 CAR-T therapy, are expected to challenge existing payment models, necessitating a shift toward accessible precision medicine for the masses.
- Behavioral change remains a significant challenge, though employers may increasingly leverage tools like Fitbit to manage employee health, given the 240 days employees spend at the office.
- A shift in mindset is anticipated where individuals monitor vitals daily, similar to financial stocks, and the insurance industry is expected to apply telematics lessons from the car sector to human health.
- China is predicted to lead globally in AI-driven healthcare due to its population of 100 million for data purposes, compared to 1 million in the US and Singapore, potentially saving billions in research costs.
- Meraxis plans to stratify patients in Singapore using microRNA technology, while BGI intends to build population-specific baselines for diagnostics and work with local governments to link science with clinical care.
- Future hiring trends in the region will shift towards data science and digitization skills, with BGI expecting a crossover in life sciences requiring expertise in physics, chemistry, and information technology.
- One in four people is expected to experience major depressive disorder, prompting Fitbit to invest in mental health technology to destigmatize the condition and connect users with care providers.
- The cost of sequencing DNA may eventually reach zero, though companies might charge for the resulting data, enabling a future where everyone has access to precision medicine.
- AID Group anticipates that two out of three early cancer patients will survive in 10 years, while four out of five late-stage patients will not, highlighting the critical impact of early detection.
- Fitbit is expected to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2027, delivering consumer-centric solutions that are continuous, real-time, and AI-driven, while working hand-in-hand with care teams rather than replacing them.
- Real-world evidence is expected to become a primary factor in proving product efficacy, addressing the issue where the ROI of biotech research declines over successive decades.
- Ethical considerations regarding the "ethical revolution" in health tech are expected to be a frequent topic of discussion, coinciding with the integration of multi-omics and wearable data.