World is on the cusp of making a technological shift: Alex Gorsky

New Delhi: There is a much better appreciation and understanding of the power of innovation in biotechnology with the rapid arrival and accessibility of the mRNA vaccines and genome viral vectors, says Alex Gorsky, Executive Chairman, Johnson & Johnson.

Gorsky recently delivered his keynote speech at the 19th edition of BioAsia 2022 emphasized greatly on how the world is on the cusp of making a technological shift and the need for change in the trajectory of human health.

“All eyes are on Asia today. The world is noticing how India as a superhub for pharmaceutical divisions is touching the lives of millions of lives and has contributed significantly to the current fight against Covid-19,” Gorsky said.

The other big lesson, according to Gorsky, is the importance of having a robust, well-supported healthcare system with which we can implement, operationalize, and execute these high-level technologies through global coordination, public-private partnerships and making them accessible around the world. He stressed also upon becoming better prepared for the next pandemic with the healthcare systems that are more robust, more accessible for the societies around the world.

On the flip side of the pandemic though, Gorsky said was the underlying demographic trend of an economic tide around the world to people who didn’t have the same kind of access, is getting resolved against the significant demand going forward. “And the other side of the equation is supply, and how we build on the recent innovations, which makes the global healthcare delivery system more accessible, more affordable, and delivers high-quality care to more patients. It begins with accelerating the uptake of digital healthcare that can even resolve delivery at a greater scale around the world.”

When asked to advise on how innovative healthcare startups in India can collaborate with multinational corporations like Johnson & Johnson, Alex Gorsky stated that he believes it starts with fostering an entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“A startup must be very clear about where that need is. It’s about making sure that you can do that clinical development working with regulators to take it through the process, rather than merely believing that a great idea will help in expansion”. He emphasized on safety, good statistical and database approach to demonstrate diversity, flexibility, and agility, and bringing different tools while customizing and maximizing the relationships that can be built for gaining opportunities around the world,” he said.

In response to a question from Dr. Ajit Shetty, Chairman, Newton Biocapital & Chairman, International Advisory Board, BioAsia, on the future of new-age technologies such as data science, digitization, connectivity, sensing, Cloud, AI, and their incorporation into healthcare at Johnson & Johnson, Gorsky shared his vision for. “One of the most exciting areas is that Biology and Chemistry are fundamentally being digitized. mRNA vaccines have been possible because we digitized the genomic information from the virus itself, quickly distributed it around the world so that we took that data and information and fundamentally used them to change the software of the microbial cell. The next would be try applying the technology for cancers or other areas”.