Hematogenix® Marks the Opening of the First Central Laboratory In Clinical Research, Positioning Malaysia As The Asia Pacific Hub
CYBERJAYA, 22 JULY 2022 – Hematogenix®, the first central oncology laboratory for clinical trials in Malaysia has been officiated today by the Minister of Health (MOH), Yang Berhormat (YB) Khairy Jamaluddin. Also present were Ms. Lim Bee Vian, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Investment Development) of Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), Dr. Akhmal Yusof, Chief Executive Officer of Clinical Research Malaysia (CRM) and Dr. Hytham Al-Masri, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hematogenix®.
Hematogenix® is a Global Clinical Research Central Laboratory specialising in Oncology/Cancer Research with accreditations from College of American Pathologists (CAP) and Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), has been in operation globally since 2007 and in Malaysia since June 2021. Hematogenix® is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois with three other branches globally, covering the European market in Manchester, United Kingdom, the China market in Shanghai; and the latest market for Asia Pacific is in Cyberjaya, Malaysia.
YB Khairy Jamaluddin during his speech emphasised that, “Apart from boosting foreign direct investments and boosting the clinical research industry, collaboration between Hematogenix® and Ministry of Health (MOH) will spur more local collaborations especially in providing cutting edge diagnostics services to Malaysians as well as exchange of knowledge and training for scientists within the MOH.” This collaboration will have direct benefits for cancer patients, as various tests for cancer biomarkers are now available locally with shorter waiting time for diagnosis.
MIDA Deputy CEO (Investment Development), Ms. Lim Bee Vian remarked, “The entry of Hematogenix® into Malaysia is expected to attract more global clinical trials into the country, moving our pharmaceutical and healthcare industries further up the value chain into research and development (R&D) and related services. This project with realised investment of more than USD9 million (RM39 million) to date is made possible through our investment policies, incentives, talent development and availability, and facilitation in bringing in biological samples and machineries. In return, our local scientists and healthcare professionals can benefit from Hematogenix® in terms of knowledge and technology transfer.”
Dr. Akhmal Yusof, CEO of Clinical Research Malaysia mentioned that “The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Hematogenix® and CRM was first signed in 2018. This establishment is aligned with MOH’s vision to increase Malaysia’s visibility for global studies, especially sponsored clinical research. The opening of Hematogenix® Asia Pacific in Cyberjaya today means we are on the right direction.”
Since 2012, there were more than RM834 million investments from Clinical Trial Agreements that were reported, contributing to the nation’s Gross National Income. On top of this, more than 2,291 skilled jobs were created in the clinical research industry and about 1,806 sponsored research was approved by the Medical and Research Ethics Committee. In 2021, CRM has achieved its Phase 1 Realisation Project resulting in an established framework, trained regulators, equipped study site, and experienced study team, all in place for First-in-Human trials in Malaysia. With the further establishment of Hematogenix® Malaysia, the clinical research support required to facilitate global clinical trials, especially early phase drug development, is now made available within the country.
Hematogenix® President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Hytham Al-Masri said “The facility in Cyberjaya is now in operation with 40 trained and qualified members including pathologists, PhD and Masters degree qualified scientists, medical technologists, bioinformaticians and software developers”.
He further added, “Since June 2021, Hematogenix® has managed at least 18 clinical studies from multinational global pharmaceutical companies and has processed over 2,000 shipments of biological specimens from study sites across Asia Pacific, namely Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Australia.”
As a result, Malaysia is now at the epicentre of cancer clinical trials in the Asia Pacific region.
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About MIDA
MIDA is the government’s principal promotion agency under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to oversee and drive investments into the manufacturing and services sectors in Malaysia. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur Sentral, MIDA has 12 regional and 20 overseas offices. MIDA continues to be the strategic partner to businesses in seizing the opportunities arising from the technology revolution of this era. For more information, please visit www.mida.gov.my and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and TikTok.
About Clinical Research Malaysia (CRM)
Established by Malaysian Ministry of Health in 2012, Clinical Research Malaysia exists to advance global health solutions for a brighter, more hopeful future for the people by providing speedy and reliable end-to-end clinical research support for quality studies. CRM’s innate understanding of the local clinical research landscape with the international standards of operations coupled with fundamental backing of the government ministries provides the organisation an incomparable advantage to work with partners from the nascent stages of development to materialisation of the end product, in order to deliver better treatment and high-skilled job opportunities.
About Hematogenix®
Hematogenix®® is a global biotechnology company providing reference laboratory services. Their team of board-certified clinical, anatomic and research pathologists work in conjunction with top scientists from around the world to provide quality testing, consultation, and guidance for all aspects of the company’s pharma and diagnostic services. Hematogenix®® offers an array of biomarker development and testing services which navigate the complexities of human subject clinical trials. The company’s clinical laboratories are CAP, and CLIA certified, GCP-compliant and serve both the pharmaceutical industry as a specialized clinical research organization and the oncology industry as a clinical and anatomical testing provider. Learn more about Hematogenix®’s comprehensive biomarker development and testing services at www.Hematogenix®.com.
Media Enquiries
MIDA
Mr. Syed Kamal Muzaffa Bin Syed Hassan Sagaff
Director, Advanced Technology, Research and Development Division, MIDA
Email: [email protected] | T: +603-2267 3636
CRM
Ms. Audrey Ooi
Head of Business Development, Clinical Research Malaysia
Email: [email protected] | M: +6012-609 6583
HEMATOGENIX
Dr. Khairul Faizi Khalid
Operations Manager, Hematogenix Asia-Pacific
Email: KKhalid@Hematogenix®.com | M: +6019-4160 616 | T: +603-8660 0866
