GenoMed Inc. (GMED)

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Gurinder Shahi quotes in this article:

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,207~12041~2074272,00.html

Article Published: Friday, April 09, 2004 - 4:55:23 PM PST

Biotech potential in Asia debated
By Andrew Blazier, Staff Writer

PASADENA -- While an Asian biotech expert on Friday lauded the sector's growth potential in South and East Asia, a San Marino investor warned return on that investment is far from a sure thing.

With a population of more than 4 billion, Asia is poised for an explosion of innovative biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in the next few years, Dr. Gurinder Shahi, the founder of a Singapore-based biotech consulting firm, told about 20 bioscience executives and educators at Caltech during the USC Asia Business Forum.

According to Shahi, chief executive of nonprofit BioEnterprise Asia, the focus on India and China as growing centers for outsourced service and manufacturing jobs has ignored what he described as an Asian climate ripe with ideas. Billions of Asians, he said, are hungry for an infusion of American investment capital to create a future wave of high- risk, high-return, high-tech discoveries.

"It's the fastest-growing market in the world right now,' said Shahi, a physician with training in molecular biochemistry and international health policy and management. "There are competencies here we don't have in Asia. Doing something together could be very beneficial for both countries.'

The number of Asian biotech companies skyrocketed to 3,200 this year from 1,200 in 2001 - a 167-percent increase, according to research by BioEnterprise Asia. China led the growth by creating 900 new firms from a base of 100 just three years ago.

The number of biotech companies remained constant in the U.S. and Europe during the same period, at 1,500 and 1,800 firms, respectively.

"There's a tremendous amount of low-hanging fruit in Asia,' Shahi said. He called on the American investors to support biotech growth in Asia with what he called potential high-return investments.

But the pursuit of that fruit, no matter how tempting, is not for the timid. Bruce Blomstrom, a private San Marino venture capitalist who worked for several years in Asia with Abbott Laboratories, said the region is fraught with potential barriers.

Two primary concerns among Western investors are China's often loose application of international intellectual property laws and a currency-exchange policy that can make it difficult for firms to extract the profits they make in Asia.

"We all know Asia is a big opportunity, but how do you get into it?' he asked. "I think it's naive to think you can just manage everything from here. You can't do business abroad unless you're based there.'