Overview
In this session, we speak to thought leaders about their outlook on biotech investments, their views on biotech investment trends for the foreseeable future, and the mindset of investors and companies when allocating capital in this space.
The pandemic has brought us all a renewed appreciation of biomedical innovation, so it was good to see 2021 emerge as such a big year for biotech investment and IPOs. However, after peaking in 2021, venture funding to biotech startups slowed in 2022. The slowdown comes amid a broader pullback in global venture funding, where Biotech funding follows the general pattern.
Globally, investment in the space is on track to come in well below last year’s highs, according to Crunchbase. Still, over several years, funding appears comparatively strong, and if investment continues at the current pace, 2022 could likely top 2020 for total financing.
In this session, we speak to thought leaders about their outlook on biotech investments, their views on biotech investment trends for the foreseeable future, and the mindset of investors and companies when allocating capital in this space.
This event is part of SWITCH 2022 where the Global and Asian innovation ecosystems meet to discuss and collaborate on the most innovative technology trends and business opportunities.Date: 25 Oct 2022, Tuesday
Time: 3:30pm - 4:10pm
Venue: Resorts World Convention Centre, Singapore, 8 Sentosa Gateway, Singapore 098269
Speakers' Profiles:
Dr Basil Lui, Managing Partner, EDBI
Dr Basil Lui is Managing Partner, Investments, at EDBI, a Singapore-based global investor in select high-growth technology sectors and key strategic industries in Singapore.
As Managing Partner (Investments), Dr Lui leads EDBI’s emerging technology team to make strategic investments into emerging smart and sustainable deep tech areas such as mobility (land/air/sea/space), advanced manufacturing (automation/additive manufacturing/IOT), future of computing, blockchain, AR/VR and agrifood-tech. He also fronts the value creation efforts for EDBI’s portfolio companies to assist their growth and has extensive experience in corporate, business and technology development, business advisory and academia.
Dr Lui holds a BA in Mechanical Engineering and a PHD from University of Cambridge.
Dr Ken Noonan, CEO, Lightstone Ventures
Dr Noonan is an expert in translating early-stage life science technologies into the development stage, often venture-backed, companies. He is currently CEO of Lightstone Ventures, Singapore; a new fund, created with Temasek, to translate life science technologies originating in Singapore into development-stage companies.
From 2002-2015, Dr Noonan was Sr. Partner and Head of the European Life Sciences Practice at L.E.K. Consulting LLP; a well-established, global management consultancy focused on issues of commercial relevance to established and development stage companies.
Dr Noonan came to L.E.K. from Booz-Allen & Hamilton, where he was a Partner and Head of its European Pharmaceuticals Practice. In 1992 Dr Noonan established the European subsidiary of The Wilkerson Group Ltd.; a boutique strategic consultancy dedicated to providing strategic advice to life science companies in the U.S., Western Europe and the Asia Pacific.
Before becoming a consultant, Dr Noonan was Sr. Vice President, Corporate Development at CooperTechnicon; the second largest in vitro diagnostics company in the world and before that, Director of Advanced R&D at BBL Microbiology Systems; a division of Becton Dickinson. Dr Noonan began his commercial career as one of the founding scientists of Bethesda Research Labs; one of the earliest biotechnology companies. Dr Noonan’s academic career included eight years as a tenured professor at the University of Florida School of Medicine, where he was the author of over 50 scientific publications on the role of the cell membrane in regulating cell growth.
Dr Noonan has a PhD in Biochemistry from Princeton University.
Chik Wai Chew, CEO, Heritas Capital
Wai Chiew has over 25 years of experience in global investment management and strategic business development, having been active in leading various companies on transformational growth strategies, fundraising and M&A. In his previous roles at Temasek and other funds, he has led and managed investments across multiple industries and geographies, deploying capital for institutions and multiple family offices.
Since joining Heritas Capital, Wai Chiew has expanded its private equity investment portfolio and initiated venture capital, fund-of-funds, and impact-first investments into the healthcare, education, environment, and technology sectors globally. In line with Heritas’ “invest with purpose, impact across generations” investment philosophy, he has overseen the integration of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations and impact investment mandates while building up Heritas’ multi-fund impact investment platform.
Wai Chiew was awarded the Glaxo-EDB scholarship and holds a BA in Economics from the University of Cambridge, UK; MA from Yale University, USA; and completed his EMBA (conducted in Mandarin) from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, China. He has served as Honorary Treasurer of the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SVCA) and is currently a member of its ESG committee. Wai Chiew also actively serves as a director on multiple boards to advocate sustainable growth and sound governance.
Andrew Bruce, MediSix Therapeutics
As the CEO of MediSix Therapeutics, Andrew leads a growing team in further developing the work of Professor Dario Campana in T-cell engineering. Andrew is an accomplished professional with more than 36 years in the pharmaceutical industry.
He has gained broad experience across various functions, from sales and marketing to supply chain and logistics, medical affairs, therapy area strategy and corporate development. Andrew has held leadership positions within the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical consulting industries, in addition to commercial and strategy roles, including the founding and subsequent sale of a global specialist medical consulting leader.
He moved to Singapore in March 2021. Andrew gained his BSc at the University of Bradford.
Moderator's Profile:
Dr Lim Jui, CEO, SGInnovate
As CEO of SGInnovate, Dr Lim Jui has overall leadership of the organisation that is committed to helping entrepreneurial scientists build and scale Deep Tech startups. At SGInnovate, Jui and his team work closely with a wide range of partners and co-investors to back this unique group of founders, who are looking to solve global challenges with their research-based solutions. This is done through equity-based investments, access to the Deep Tech ecosystem and talent network, as well as by providing business-building support.
While he trained in medicine, Jui had spent most of his professional life in the business of science and innovation. He was Director of Investments, Bio*One Capital; CEO of Merlin MD, a medical device company; Executive Director of the Medical Engineering Research and Commercialisation Initiative (MERCI) at the National University of Singapore (NUS); and Programme Director of the Singapore-Stanford Biodesign Programme (SSB), a joint venture between the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and Stanford University. Before joining SGInnovate, Jui was CEO of NTUitive, the innovation and enterprise company of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
He currently serves on the advisory boards of IPOS International, the business arm of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), and several startup companies. He was previously a board member of the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) in Singapore.
Jui received his Bachelor of Arts (BA, Biological Sciences and East Asian Studies) and Doctor of Medicine (MD) at Columbia University. He then obtained his Master of Medicine (Anaesthesiology and Surgical Intensive Care) from NUS. He remains a registered medical practitioner today.
