The National Biotechnology Research Park (NBRP) has signed a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) with AstraZeneca with a view to accelerating the development of the biomedical industry in Taiwan.  Mr Mishal Patel, the Senior Director & Head of Health Informatics of the Headquarter of AstraZeneca, visited Taiwan for this event.  In an interview, Mr Patel talked about the versatility of AI.  It can be applied to diagnosis, disease prediction, clinical decisions and even new drug development.  The NHI databank is an advantage of Taiwan.  He is looking forward to the collaboration with the NBRP.

The British government announced last year that AI will be used to assist in medical diagnosis.  The British government predicted that such application could reduce the number of cancer death by 10% in 15 years.  Talking from his working experience with the NHS and his involvement in the development of the AI system in the UK, Mr Patel expressed that the British government has allocated a lot of resources to the development of AI.  All data must be obtained on condition that patients’ privacy is protected and data accuracy is confirmed by professionals.  The challenges are to translate the data to standardized format, make it available for use and meet clinical needs, said Mr Patel.

Mr Patel pointed out that hospitals are now keen on developing AI applications.  In addition to diagnosis aids, researchers are studying how to use AI in predicting diseases, for example, how to predict the onset of breast cancer among those with positive screening results.  AI has the potential to provide a timely risk assessment prediction.

Also, AI can be used to improve patients’ medication compliance, especially for the elderly.  It is able to detect early signs of incompliance and to stop the situation from worsening. It will not only help the patients, but also reduce long-term healthcare costs, said Mr Patel. 

Mr Patel also mentioned about using AI in accelerating new drug development, for example, using electronic patient records to improve the design of clinical trials, helping researchers to better understand a disease, quickly locating trial subjects, etc.

In the aspect of new drug R&D, Mr Patel stressed that it is important to work with right partners and right government agencies.  Taiwan has a high NHI coverage and high quality patient data.  The company is looking forward to the collaboration in Taiwan and hoping to bring more new drugs into the market and benefit patients.

【2019-08-05/ Liberty Times】