Speech by the Chief Executive Officer at the BioHK 2025 AI Sub-Forum (Insilico Medicine Session) (English version only) (10 September 2025)

As of today, we have invested in over 130 projects, of which two companies are already listed in Hong Kong.  In addition, more than 10 companies have either submitted or plan to submit their applications for listing in Hong Kong.  Out of the aforesaid companies and before listing, 5 are already unicorns.  We look forward to sharing more of these stories in the future.  

We are currently focusing on 3 core investment themes, namely, Hard & Core Technology, Biotech, and New Energy & Green Technology, as well as the relevant applications.  We plan to expand our scope of themes in the future.  For each of these themes, while we cast the net really wide with a view to identifying and accessing the smartest minds and best-in-class technologies, we realise that a lot of times, the best is just around the corner in this part of the world.  Insilico Medicine is a good example.  

Insilico Medicine

Each of the HKIC’s investee companies has its own story.  From the perspective of the HKIC as a Patient Capital institution, a core part of Insilico Medicine’s secret sauce for success is the company’s thoughtful navigation regarding 3 respective development crossroads, namely (i) where “AI” meets “drug discovery”; (ii) where “scientific excellence” meets “commercialisation”; and (iii) where “Hong Kong” meets “rest of world”.   

Where “AI” meets “drug discovery”

Established in 2014, Insilico Medicine is playing an important role in transforming drug discovery and development under the leadership of Alex and Dr. Ren.  Their area of coverage is broad and includes cancer research, fibrosis, immunology, obesity, metabolic disorders, and central nervous system.  A lot of work is powered or inspired by AI.  For example, their generative AI platform has discovered Rentosertib which has now successfully completed Phase II clinical trials with encouraging results.  This represents the world’s first AI-based drug candidate to demonstrate proof-of-concept validation.  This is also a good case showing how AI could make the drug discovery process better, faster and potentially cheaper.  

Where “scientific excellence” meets “commercialisation”

For investors, it is also very important that the management team in the investee company has a very clear strategy bridging scientific excellence and commercialisation.  For the present case, the company always starts with the big picture and identify macro themes such as longevity, before working on the technological paths.  This is a very pragmatic approach to identify and capture the service gaps globally with scale, which could translate into market potential.  

And the company never stops innovating.  It is in fact extending the reach of Pharma.AI, which is a commercially-available end-to-end generative AI software designed to improve the quality and productivity of pharmaceutical research.  The company is now utilising it across diverse industries such as advanced materials, agriculture and nutritional products, opening up even more scenarios of technological application and commercial opportunities.  

Where “Hong Kong” meets “rest of world”

Thanks to the support of the HKSAR Government, the HKIC’s ecosystem has been growing faster than expected.  Hong Kong’s strengths as a “super connector” and a “super value-adder”, together with our other attributes such as “One Country, Two Systems”, being part of the vibrant Greater Bay Area, rule of law, well-established capital market, free flow of data and multi-cultural environment, naturally made Hong Kong an ideal gateway for business as well as AI investment and development.

With that backdrop and for companies in the HKIC ecosystem like Insilico Medicine, whether or not they were born in Hong Kong, it is our observation that they are now considering Hong Kong as their home and important business or R&D base.  Taking Insilico Medicine as an example, they have been showing very good momentum after setting up their R&D operations in Hong Kong.  I am sure Alex stands ready to share more with us during his panel discussion on why Hong Kong is a great place to incubate companies, attract international talents, and do good business.

On this front, I am pleased to share with you that Insilico Medicine is demonstrating their confidence and commitment on Hong Kong by further action.  In addition to the investment and strategic partnership already made between the HKIC and the company, we will be co-launching “The Longevity Frontier Space” Initiative (“Initiative”), under which Insilico Medicine will set up an AI-driven drug discovery incubator in Hong Kong with many “Hong Kong first” arrangements, including giving the HKIC the first-look priority of projects incubated by this Initiative.  We are very excited about this Initiative.  More information will be announced in due course.

So I’d proudly say that at this crossroad of where “Hong Kong” meets “rest of world”, the HKIC ecosystem companies including Insilico Medicine are joining hands with us to make Hong Kong shines even brighter in the eyes of entrepreneurs, innovators, talents and investors.  With Hong Kong’s strengths and openness, I am sure we could do even more in the areas of cross-jurisdictional partnership and international thought leadership.  We need to contribute the Chinese wisdom and HK DNA in shaping the relevant market and industry landscape globally, so that we could maximise the benefits of innovation and technology to the world.

Closing

To close, congratulations again on what BioHK and Insilico Medicine have achieved.  The HKIC is keen to be your long-term partner, and looks forward to joining hands with you on this exciting biotech journey ahead.  Thank you!