The medical device market in ASEAN is predicted to be worth US$8.5 billion by 2021, and Thai entrepreneurs want to cut themselves a big slice of the pie. The Start-Up Park at MEDICAL FAIR THAILAND 2019 is designed to help them do just that, explained two of Thailand’s leading medical and life sciences start-up experts at the Start-Up Park press event.

The keynote speaker at the event was Dr Kakanand Srungboonmee, from the Centre of Data Mining and Biomedical Informatics, Faculty of Medical Technology, Mahidol University, in Bangkok. As well as being an academic, innovator and medical start-up founder herself, Dr Kakanand also plays a key role in curating the speakers and topics for the Start-Up Podium® – a programme that features a line-up of discussion panels and presentations which will take place at MEDICAL FAIR THAILAND 2019, the country’s biggest and most established international medical trade exhibition.

The Start-Up Park is a dedicated platform within the exhibition for some of the best next-gen start-ups in the regional healthcare scene, with a line-up coming from Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, S.A.R., China and Taiwan, China. A meeting point for young and innovative companies to meet potential investors, industry influencers and buyers, innovations on show include thermal disinfectant technology for bone grafting, AI software systems to reduce diagnosis and improve treatment time for sleep disorders, a one-stop e-platform to locate and book appointments with medical and healthcare professionals, to a healthcare mobile app that monitors eating habits and helps diabetics calculate calories

Dr Kakanand explained why having an event like the Start-Up Park is so important, "We need investors who understand the challenges faced by life sciences and medical/ health start-ups. General investors are used to faster development times and seeing quicker returns on their investments in other industry sectors, so when they see the challenges faced by the life sciences and medical/ health sectors such as the longer time needed for development and clinical trials, stricter standards and more restrictive marketing regulations, they are reluctant to invest," she said.

"Industry players and potential investors at an event like MEDICAL FAIR THAILAND 2019 have a better understanding of the challenges and also the potentially huge rewards that can be had in this market. That’s why specialist events like this are so pg 2 of 4 important for the growth of Thailand’s young medical start-up scene," added Dr Kakanand.

The Start-Up Podium® is the brainchild of Virtual International Business Accelerator – VibaZone™, the world’s premier online resource and networking site for innovators, entrepreneurs and funders. The carefully curated Start-Up Podium® programme will take place over 3 days, with topics ranging from; updates on the healthcare scene and distribution networks in the region, co-working spaces for start-ups, to women in med tech, and much more.

The speakers come from diverse backgrounds and are dynamic, multi-disciplinary thought leaders from Thailand and countries such as China, Singapore, United States, and many more. They are key stakeholders of the start-up eco-system and represent hospitals, the pharmaceutical sector, those involved in research and development (R&D), government agencies, industry associations, academia, and many more.

Dr Kakanand believes that bringing together all the different stakeholders involved is essential to build an ecosystem that will encourage life sciences and medical/health innovation, "The government, industry players, innovators all need to realise that life sciences and medical/ health innovation promotes sustainable wellness and wellbeing. As our population grows older, the current healthcare model will become unsustainable. Waiting for people to become acutely ill and then treating them is very expensive. Today we need to focus on innovation in the life sciences and medical/health that promote a healthier lifestyle. We need preventative treatments, earlier detection of disease and earlier interventions to treat or manage the disease before it becomes serious and requires hospitalisation. That is where start-ups and technology can make a difference."