Innovation & Tech

The second International Healthcare Week (IHW), organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and supported by a wide range of healthcare sector partners, runs from 16 to 31 May in Hong Kong, leveraging the city’s strategic role as an innovation and investment healthcare hub in Asia.

Hydroponic cultivation calls to mind galleries with thousands of plants growing on shelves under but Hong Kong start-up Farmacy HK is rolling out Farming as a Service (Faas), supplying vending-machine sized Smart Mobile Farms to bring herb and vegetable cultivation right to consumers.

Interest in healthcare and medical developments continues to grow, as economies worldwide recover from the COVID-19 crisis. Market leaders and industry players again congregated at the HKTDC Hong Kong International Medical and Healthcare Fair showcasing medical trends and innovations. Now in its 13th edition, the fair continued to draw an international crowd, including representatives from the Consulates General of Canada, Czech Republic, Israel, and the United States. The physical-online hybrid format, in which the event was conducted, encouraged both on-site and online interactions.

Hong Kong earlier this month hosted its second Asia Summit on Global Health (ASGH), as the city continues to garner international attention after further loosening COVID-19 restrictions. This year’s theme – “Charting a New Course in Healthcare through Collaboration” resonated strongly with Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab (main picture), Deputy Director-General of the World Health Organization. In her video speech at the event’s opening session, Dr Jakab said the pandemic had infected more than 600 million people globally and claimed 6.5 million lives, so there was an “opportunity and, indeed, an obligation to learn from this pandemic” and accelerate progress on universal healthcare through concerted efforts in science, research, innovation, data and digital technologies.

A professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has established a firm, EggLogics Limited (EggLogics), that has developed patented technology to increase the success rate for in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) through egg “recharging”, bringing new hope to families troubled by fertility problems.

Health tech start-ups have shouldered a heavy responsibility in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and are now regarded as important engines to promote the sustainable development of the global economy.

A team from the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Medicine has developed patent technologies that can help pharmaceutical companies improve vaccine effectiveness of their products and efficiency of developing vaccines. The start-up has already signed cooperation agreements with a number of pharmaceutical companies to co-develop vaccines.

Bespoke gourmet shops marketing through platforms such as Instagram and Facebook are proliferating. Hong Kong start-up Calioo saw the pain points boutique caterers were experiencing – from receiving orders to delivery – and decided to address the issue, developing an online-to-offline (O2O) platform to help them solve problems and increase turnover.

As the shift to vegetarian diets becomes more deeply rooted in Hong Kong, local start-ups are seizing the opportunity to develop new food technologies. Hong Kong start-up Good Food Technologies has developed a plant-based pork substitute made from konjac (a root vegetable widely cultivated in Asia), coconut oil and soyabeans. The firm's first round of financing attracted HK$12 million (US$1.53 million) which will be used to build new production facilities, develop retail capabilities and grow beyond Hong Kong.