Healthcare Feature
Sphere
#36
2014
20
ON TARGET:
t the beginning of the chain,
there is Hutchison China
MediTech Limited, aka
Chi-Med.
Fifteen years ago, visionaries within the
Hutchison Group asked if there was a
better way to produce more effective drugs
faster, helping more people. They set out
a strategy and put their ideas into action.
Christian Hogg, the CEO of Chi-Med,
was recruited to lead the new company
in 2000. Speaking to
Sphere
, he explains,
“14 years ago, Mr Simon To, Managing
Director of Hutchison China, and I started
working towards developing a pharma
business with the support of the Group.”
They found a way to meet major unmet
medical needs in China and globally, and
to pursue exciting, albeit challenging,
business opportunities for the Group.
The problemwith drugs
Among the few drugs that make it to
market, their high cost reflects the
expenses associated with testing both
those that succeed and those that fail to
pass muster. Chi-Med hit on a novel R&D
strategy that breaks down into a three-part
approach. Research lines are in botanicals;
small molecules with validated, or known,
targets; and small molecules with novel, or
previously unproven, targets.
Botanicals: Herbology
Qinghaosu is a well-known botanical
wonder drug that exploded onto the world’s
consciousness in the 1990s. Effective
against malaria, it has been known since
the fourth century’s Ge Hong described
it in
The Handbook of Prescriptions for
Emergencies
. Novartis developed it and,
under the name artemisinin, its use became
globally widespread.
Chi-Med tapped the same well of
knowledge: the Chinese pharmacopoeia.
The scientists at Chi-Med extract key
compounds from a complex mix of biological
elements to determine exactly what
compounds do and how effective they are.
Well-known examples of popular drugs
include artemisinin and the cancer drug
tamoxifen, derived from the Pacific yew tree.
Known Targets:
Clean powerful hits
The second approach, using small
molecules against known targets, makes
use of current scientific knowledge to
refine first-generation drug therapies
that often have multiple side effects and
associated toxicities. At one time, testing
A
Modern research-intensive pharmaceutical firms are a powerful
corporate force in the world for good reason. If medicine still depended
on shamans and witch doctors, the world would be a miserable place.
The phrase, “It’s serious, but there’s a new drug ...” means hope for the
afflicted. These companies, however, are usually the final stage in a chain
of companies that seek new ways to heal.
Innovation
“It started with a belief by
Hutchison senior management
in traditional Chinese medicine
and its global applications.”
Christian Hogg, CEO of Chi-Med
Chi-Med zeroes in
on fatal and
chronic diseases
