Medical technology About the entrepreneurs who are developing wearables, home diagnostics, smart products and apps to put patients in the driving seat Personalised medicine Using DNA analysis and big data to detect diseases and help physicians devise the right treatment for each patient New paradigms for healthcare Business leaders bringing affordable and accessible treatment to people in emerging markets Healthy returns Pictet on investing in healthcare stocks An inspirational leader The Japanese maestro ISSUE EIGHTEEN | WINTER 2015 who brings out the best HEALTH AND TECHNOLOGY in young musicians FOREWORD Health matters to all of us: we want to live longer and better lives as our standards of living rise. In this issue of Pictet Report, we take a look at some exciting developments in the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses, and at new models for providing affordable and accessible healthcare. The most significant factor in improving healthcare today is technological innovation – in particular, the falling costs of DNA sequencing and the enormous expansion of computer processing power. So much of this issue is devoted to interviews with exceptional entrepreneurs who are harnessing such developments to analyse data on a large scale, diagnose illnesses and select personalised treatments. Their products include wearable devices, home diagnostic machines, and smart products and apps which can help people take control of their own health. Two physicians told us about new approaches they have devised to treat conditions such as Alzheimer’s and cancer. We spoke to a Swiss company that makes intricate titanium implants used to treat bone diseases such as osteoarthritis. And the Director of Geneva’s new Campus Biotech explained how he is bringing together different disciplines to find cures for diseases that have defeated large drug companies. We also interviewed two entrepreneurs behind different models for providing healthcare in developing countries and emerging markets. And two Pictet analysts told us how innovation in healthcare has made the companies behind it attractive stocks for investors. Finally, the philanthropist profiled in this issue is Seiji Ozawa, the distinguished Japanese conductor who has set up international academies to help talented young musicians realise their potential. We hope that you will find this issue interesting – suggesting, as it does, that we are entering a new era in healthcare. Rémy Best Managing Partner Pictet Group Cover image – Microscope slides with tissue specimens, USC Westside Cancer Center & Center for Applied Molecular Medicine Pictet editorial team – Ninja Struye de Swielande Design & editorial consultancy – Forth Studio | Writer – John Willman Photography – Alex Teuscher, Aurélien Bergot, Zakaria Zainal, Roderick Aichinger, Jan Sondergaard, Oliver Oettli, Jean-Marc Falconnet, Carlotta Cardana, Patrick Strattner, Emmanuel Fradin, Wes Sumner, Nicolas Righetti and Christoffer Rudquist Winter 2015 For subscription information please contact: [email protected] PERSONALISED MEDICINE p15 Dr Richard Isaacson p37 Dr David Agus p41 Sophia Genetics p47 Stefan Roever Reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s Personalised healthcare Data-driven medicine DNA Sequencing SWISS-MADE PATIENT EMPOWERMENT p23 Medartis p21 Atonomics p31 Sentrian p45 Withings High-precision bone implants Diagnostic testing for the people Remote disease management Smart products and apps NEXT GENERATION HEALTHCARE PHILANTHROPY PICTET'S VIEW p5 Benoît Dubuis p13 Fullerton Healthcare p28 Seven Seas p9 Seiji Ozawa p51 Pictet on Switzerland’s Health Valley Accessible and affordable Technologies The philanthropist healthcare equities treatment for all A new paradigm for Healthy returns in universal healthcare an ageing world LOCATIONS 1 California 6 Denmark 6 Stefan Roever Atonomics 3 Dr David Agus 7 Kenya 5 4 2 New York Seven Seas 9 Dr Richard Isaacson Technologies 1 2 9 3 United Kingdom 8 Singapore Sentrian Fullerton 4 France Healthcare Withings 9 Japan and 5 Switzerland Switzerland 7 8 Benoît Dubuis Seiji Ozawa Sophia Genetics Malawi Medartis pictet report | winter 2015 contents health and technology 3 next generation healthcare: pictet report | winter 2015 4 switzerland’s health valley health and technology NEXT GENERATION HEALTHCARE SWITZERLAND'S HEALTH VALLEY Benoît Dubuis The Director of Geneva’s Campus Biotech is creating a new biotechnology and medical technology centre, bringing together different disciplines to find treatments that will save lives and improve the quality of life for patients Since the beginning of modern pharmaco- meets the needs of an ageing popu- ‘The confluence logy, the treatment of patients has relied on lation, that it can be financed and of innovations advances in medicine and biology to devise that it can respond to new needs such therapies that can cure or alleviate their as chronic diseases which now in computing, conditions. Today, new approaches focus on consume so much of health budgets.’ engineering and specific biological targets, identify predis- The opportunity to create Campus biotechnology will positions to diseases and find personalised Biotech came in 2012 when the revolutionise treatments that use digital technologies to pharmaceutical giant Merck Serono put patients in control. closed its base in a former indus- the treatment of trial area of Geneva, leading to health problems’ Campus Biotech, an ultra-modern the loss of more than a thousand research centre in Geneva, is aiming jobs. To retain their expertise, a to put itself at the forefront of this consortium backed by the canton new approach, bringing together of Geneva and the federal govern- a wide range of skills in biotechnology ment bought most of the build- and medical technology to find cures ing a year later, with plans to open for diseases that have defeated large a new type of research hub. drug companies. Its new approach Two universities are at the centre to research and development will of the project: the University of create opportunities for collabora- Geneva and École Polytechnique Fédé- tion between researchers, technolo- rale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne’s gists, computer specialists and the technical university – both of which drugs industry to bring innovative are moving research groups to the products to market. campus. Two wealthy philanthropists ‘We are at a turning point in also contributed: the Bertarelli family, the history of medicine,’ says Benoît the descendents of Serono’s founder, Dubuis, Executive Director of Campus which has previously endowed neuro- Biotech. ‘The confluence of innova- science programmes at EPFL and tions in computing, engineering and Harvard; and Hansjörg Wyss, founder biotechnology will revolutionise the of a medical devices business, who is treatment of health problems. Our also endowing the Wyss Centre for Bio- goals are to ensure that medicine and Neuro-Engineering at the Campus. pictet report | winter 2015 next generation healthcare: health and technology switzerland’s health valley 5 With these resources, the new centre will come from the interface between is focusing on neuroscience – The aim is to have these two approaches,’ says Dr Dubuis. a discipline for which both universities platforms open Dr Dubuis believes that the are noted. This leadership position was Campus will be able to find market to anyone to work boosted when the European Union solutions to intractable neurological decided in 2013 to support EPFL’s in – researchers, diseases, especially mental illnesses Human Brain Project, which aims digital experts, and those connected with ageing such to stimulate the brain using comput- engineers, as Alzheimer’s. ‘Most large pharma- ers and has also been relocated ceutical companies have abandoned entrepreneurs to the Campus. many of these fields because they Another reason for this focus and companies see them as too risky. Our collabora- is that the Campus can unite two tion between different disciplines can approaches to treating neurological tackle them.’ conditions: biotech developments of In addition to neuroscience, the pharmaceuticals; and medtech devices Campus has a second focus on digi- such as the brain implants that now tal medicine. Masses of health data treat Parkinson’s disease. ‘We think is generated daily through mobile that the next generation of treatments applications, wearable technologies, computerised records and analytical disciplines such as genomics. Gath- ering and processing this data using digital forms of R&D such as model- ling, simulation and visualisation should provide information that can make treatments smarter. Opened in May 2015, Campus Biotech already has a workforce of 600, which is expected to climb to more than a thousand. The aim is to foster platforms that are open to anyone to work in – researchers, digital experts, engineers, entrepreneurs and compa- nies. ‘Use labs’ are available for non-employees where they can collab- orate on specific projects and return to their normal places of work when they are completed. Dr Dubuis is well-placed to work on such convergence issues. A chemical engineer by training, his doctorate was in biotechnology. He was Dean of the School of Life Sciences at EPFL and has worked with companies such as Ciba- Geigy and Lonza. He also co-founded Eclosion, the first Swiss Life Sciences seed-fund and incubator which helps researchers transform their laboratory findings into commercial products. In addition, he is President of BioAlps, a non-profit association that promotes the life sciences clus- ter of