Future Thinking: Vaccines, Infectious Diseases & Healthcare Innovation - Future Planet Capital

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February 2022 | View this email in your browser

Vaccines, Infectious Diseases & Healthcare Innovation:
Saving Lives and Livelihoods

It’s now been over two years since the start of the coronavirus pandemic which has disrupted lives across all countries and communities. Over 400 million covid cases have been reported worldwide and well over 100 countries worldwide have instituted either full or partial lockdowns, affecting billions of people and businesses.

But in the midst of this unprecedented global crisis, there has been a saviour that has reduced fatalities and helped us to reopen our economies – vaccinations. From the start of the pandemic, the global innovation community mobilised quickly to initiate the develop a vaccine for COVID-19. Hundreds of individuals and institutions—in academia, biotechnology, government, and pharmaceuticals—embarked on one of the most consequential scientific endeavours in living memory. FPC was in the thick of the race from the very beginning investing in Vaccitech, the company behind the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

Now, 10.4 billion doses of covid vaccinations have been administered worldwide with over 50% of the global population fully vaccinated against the disease. Funding has poured in from governments, multilateral agencies, not-for-profit institutions, and the private sector. Although it certainly hasn’t been plain sailing, regulators have shown unprecedented speed in working with innovators.

The vaccine race has shown the importance of healthcare innovation and how it can be vital to keeping our economies moving forward.

There are also significant lessons to be learnt. As we look towards a post-covid era – with our healthcare systems facing ever-growing demands and burgeoning waiting lists – it is important that we build on recent developments and innovations. And perhaps help protect ourselves from the pandemics of the future.

This newsletter highlights a number of interesting sources in this area and sets out the trends to watch out for in healthcare innovation for 2022.

BBC Horizon Special: The Vaccine

The extraordinary inside story of the biggest scientific challenge of our age – following a small band of vaccine scientists around the world who took on Covid-19 and ultimately delivered the weapon to beat it.

Three Healthcare Trends for 2022

We have all seen and experienced the sweeping digital transformations made in healthcare over the past two years. It has been the perfect convergence of the capabilities of technology being available at the right time and the environmental constraints of Covid-19 forcing the innovation to happen. Over the next 12 months, important changes in healthcare will continue and, while the pace of innovation may slow slightly, technologies such as AI, wearables and new telehealth systems will continue to play a significant role in helping us get and stay healthy.

Next generation vaccines will also play an increasingly important role as we prepare ourselves for the healthcare challenges of the future.

1. Equity In Care: Around the world the pandemic has shone a spotlight on the inequities. We see the rate of vaccination correlates with the GDP of nations, and there’s widespread recognition that more must be done. This fourth industrial revolution spurred by technology could be the most inclusive, if we structure our systems with inclusivity and equity in mind. Next gen vaccines could be an important tool in this fight for greater equity.

2. Personalised medicine and genomics: Traditionally, medicines and treatments have been created on a “one-size-fits-all” basis, with trials designed to optimise drugs for efficacy with the highest number of patients with the lowest number of adverse side effects. Modern technology, including genomics, AI, and digital twins, allows a far more personalised approach to be taken, resulting in treatments that can be tailored right down to the individual level.

3. Remote healthcare and telemedicine: During the first months of the pandemic, the percentage of healthcare consultations that were carried out remotely shot up from 0.1% to 43.5%. Analysts at Deloitte say that most of us are happy with this and will continue to use virtual visits. Telemedicine has the potential to improve access to healthcare in a world where half the population does not have access to essential services (according to the WHO).

FT Opinion: Three ways to ensure health tech innovation benefits all

Read Susan Etlinger’s recent article in the Financial Times about why we should focuss innovation on those who face the toughest barriers – developing healthcare technology with historically marginalised people rather than for them.

Challenge Investing

Within our universe, we have a significant number of companies that are helping to profitably address this significant and timely global challenge. If you’d like to invest in some of the most promising growth companies based on top research then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Want to know more?
Contact E d Phillips or Abi Wye at Future Planet Capital.

This monthly digest is brought to you by Future Planet Capital.

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