HONG KONG, CHINA — (Marketwired) — 11/04/15 — The Lippo Group, one of the largest conglomerates and the biggest healthcare provider in Indonesia, through its affiliate Venturra Capital, signed a Memordandum of Understanding (MoU) with Prenetics™, a Personalized Precision Medicine Life Sciences company based in Hong Kong. Under the terms of the MoU, Venturra Capital will invest an undisclosed amount in the USD millions into Prenetics. In addition, the Lippo Group will act as a strategic partner for an initial period of 5-Years to offer personalized precision medicine in Indonesia. Prenetics has developed its proprietary iGenes Pharmacogenomics test. Pharmacogenomics is the study of how genes affects a person’s response to drugs. iGenes is a non-invasive, saliva based test with a report ready to physicians within 48 hours. The iGenes report will identify the right drug, at the right dosage, tailored to a patient’s genetic make-up.
Lippo Group Director and Managing Partner of Venturra Capital, John Riady, stated, “Precision Medicine is the future of healthcare and we intend to make it accessible soon throughout Indonesia. Health care today needs reform as it is expensive, reactive, inefficient and focused largely on one-size fits-all treatments for chronic illness and cancer. An answer is personalized, predictive, and preventive medicine.”
The CEO of Prenetics, Danny Yeung, stated, “Indonesia is a key market with a population of 250m, we are extremely grateful and excited to have Venturra Capital and the Lippo Group as our strategic partner. They are the clear leaders in health care in Indonesia. Every year millions suffer as a result of adverse drug reactions and is the 4th leading cause of deaths, a majority of these ADR’s are preventable. Together, it’s our vision to create a safer, healthier Asia.”
Stefan Jung, Managing Partner of Venturra Capital, added, “It is quite rare to have a great scientific team with a great commercial team in Prenetics. The iGenes test offers a win-win scenario for all parties involved. The physician gets an incredible tool, patients receive personalized treatment, and payors save significantly on healthcare costs.”
Andy A. Liu, Former Asia President IMS Health, noted, “Healthcare costs are increasing double-digits annually. In fact, IMS did a major study in 2013 and concluded wrong medications represent the #1 avoidable cost in healthcare with an over $200b USD opportunity, just in the USA.”
Prenetics also Announces World-Class Scientific, Medical and Commercial Advisory Board
“As leaders in their respective fields, each of these board members will provide significant value, perspectives and experience,” said Danny Yeung.
Scientific Board
Professor Stephen Tsui, PhD, is Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences; Head, Division of Genomics and Bioinformatics; Associate Director, CUHK-BGI Innovation Institute of Trans-omics; The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Professor Michael Yang, PhD, is Head and Chair Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences at City University of Hong Kong. Professor Yang is a co-founder of Prenetics.
Professor Brian Tomlinson, MD, is Former Division Head, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine; The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Medical Board
Dr. Ron Worthington, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Southern Illinois University. Dr. Worthington notably worked on the Human Genome Project which was completed in 2003.
Dr. Deepak Voora, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine Cardiology Specialist, Department of Medicine, Duke University of Medicine.
Dr. Jason Caplan, MD, is Professor Chair of Psychiatry, Creighton University of School of Medicine, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center.
Dr. Jane Caplan, MD, is in private practice specializing in ADHD and Child Psychiatry.
Commercial Board
Shuhei Morofuji, is Founder and CEO of REAPRA. He was previously Founder and CEO of SMS Co Ltd (TSE 2175), one of the largest healthcare information platforms in Asia.
Andy A. Liu, is a healthcare industry senior veteran, HKBIO Vice-Chairman and was previously President of Asia Pacific at IMS Health.
Rolf Steffen, is a pharmaceutical industry senior veteran and was previously Chief Executive Officer, Healthcare Services for Zuellig Pharma.
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