Andy Wong, Head of Innovation and Technology (Life and Health Sciences) at InvestHK, recently returned to Hong Kong after attending the AusMedtech Conference in Perth.
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He spoke with BiotechDispatch about why Hong Kong is a convenient starting point for entering the Chinese healthcare market. “We are the gateway for China,” he said.
“We are physically located as part of China, and then we are so close to China,” he said, adding that “the law we use is common law” and that “IP protection enables people to be confident about protecting their innovation in Hong Kong.”
He listed practical advantages, including a simple tax regime with a low headline rate and targeted R&D incentives. “We also have the patent box, meaning that if you divide the IP and then the profit generated from this IP is taxed at a low concessionary rate,” he said.
He said what interested him at the conference in Perth was how Hong Kong can help translate research into capital and patient care. He outlined the three stages. “We are moving from the bench to bedside to the boardroom,” he said, naming research, clinical trials, and commercialisation as linked steps.
Hong Kong’s new Greater Bay Area International Clinical Trial Institute is central to the middle step because it enables companies to run multicenter trials across Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area.
China is simply too large and fast-moving to ignore. “China definitely has a huge market,” he said. His practical advice for foreign companies was straightforward. “I think the easier way for the company to access China is to consider Hong Kong, because Hong Kong definitely is a stepping springboard or connection to China,” he said.
Mr Wong acknowledged the transition that many Australian and Western companies will have to make. “That would be a transition period,” he said, noting that developers are more familiar with US and European pathways. He accepted that phase one development usually stays close to home, but suggested that phase two and three activity could move. “So I think if you allocate the phase two and phase three into Hong Kong and China, that could be an advantage,” he said.
He also highlighted how Hong Kong connects companies with capital markets. “The capital market is definitely our number one advantage,” he said, pointing to deep IPO and secondary markets and to active local investors. He used a recent licensing deal to illustrate how Chinese biotech is already attracting global partners and how listing and fundraising in Hong Kong can accelerate a project.
Hong Kong adds options for research, translation, and market access without forcing a company to abandon established regulatory strategies, he said. “Leverage the advantage of Hong Kong,” he said.
“We need to spend more time to keep Australian companies updated and familiar with the environment in Hong Kong,” he said. “I think it’s a good time to look at the opportunity of Hong Kong.”