Hong Kong houses some of the most experienced and well-endowed biomedical companies in the world. Hai Kang Life Corporation, established in 1999, played a pivotal role in producing tests for global pandemics in the past, including for SARS in 2003.
The corporation is now advocating “sample pooling”, a pioneering technique that would, with precise testing capacities, significantly expedite testing for Covid-19. By putting together 10 to 20 samples of possibly infected individuals, this method enables accelerated and more targeted testing at far lower costs.
Hai Kang is only the tip of a far greater iceberg involving entities such as the Hong Kong-Bio Med Innotech Association and the eponymous BioMed Technology Holdings Ltd. A vast number of these companies are stationed at Science Park, with personnel recruited from the nearby Chinese University of Hong Kong.
It behooves the Hong Kong administration to genuinely look into how Hong Kong could be made a more attractive destination for foreign talent, but also to seek further integration in cross-border personnel exchange. Having Hong Kong students work for leading STEM corporations in the mainland would enlighten them about the rapid developments across the border
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