The breakthroughs, collaborations and challenges in the field of medical sciences were highlighted by the experts, industry leaders and representatives of the corporate companies on the second day of the BioAsia 2017 conference.
Delivering his keynote address, Paul Stoffels, Worldwide Chairman of Pharma, Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson, USA, said the pharmaceutical innovation has significantly contributed to the society as increased life expectancy was the result of hygiene measures and innovation.
“If you look at the abilities of the new insights and also the technological platforms, I think we should be able to do a lot more. We are working towards significant collaborations around the world to have impact on the diseases from cancer to tuberculosis and from interventional cardiology to consumer products,” he said. Vas Narasimhan, Global Head of Drug Development & CMO, Novartis, Switzerland spoke on the challenges in the field of research and development.
He informed that the pharmaceutical and biotech industry around the world invest almost $150 billion in R&D, but the question is whether funds are being used efficiently.
Nobel Laureate Kurt Wuthrich, Scripps Research Institute, USA, cited the example of MRI scan and said that each drug or procedure takes many years till it can be used by the community.
