Kazakhstan and Hong Kong could partner to build biotech unicorns – private start-ups valued at US$1 billion or more – by linking the Central Asian country’s strong tech workforce with the city’s global financial network, a top academic has said.
Huck-Hui Ng, dean of the school of medicine at Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev University, said the nascent biotech sector in the country has already produced several start-ups in areas including artificial intelligence (AI) and digital health, and could build a “substantial” ecosystem with the right policies and government support.
Ng made the remarks on Monday at the South China Morning Post’s inaugural “China Conference: Central Asia 2026” in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana.
“There is a real opportunity to connect entrepreneurs with capital, ideas and government support across the two regions,” Ng said during a panel. “If we can bring those elements together, I believe many things can happen.”
Kazakhstan is pushing to become a regional healthcare hub, with the nation’s drug regulator in April becoming the first in Central Asia to win World Health Organization certification for meeting global standards.
The country has also attracted manufacturing investments from overseas drug makers, including companies in China, and it is rolling out AI to help with diagnosis at clinics nationwide.
The broader Kazakhstani tech sector can already point to one unicorn, Higgsfield AI, a developer of AI-generated video tools for marketing and social media. The company, founded in 2023, was valued at US$1.3 billion in a fundraising round in February.
Hong Kong offers lessons for Kazakhstan and beyond in developing the biotech sector, including the importance of support at the university level, such as research funding, said Fariza Zhorabek, another panellist at the event.
Zhorabek, who grew up in Kazakhstan before attending university in Hong Kong, is now research and development lead at Allegrow Biotech, a biotech spun out of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).
Beyond funding, Allegrow received support from HKUST’s entrepreneurship centre in areas such as intellectual property management and establishing facilities, Zhorabek said. Further help came from an incubation programme at Hong Kong Science Park tech hub at Pak Shek Kok.
Kazakhstani companies could also tap into Hong Kong’s large pool of “patient capital”, as the city boasts experienced biotech investors who understand that the sector is a long-term and high-risk bet, she said.
There was also potential for collaboration between Hong Kong drug developers and Kazakh manufacturers, she added.
The Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park at Lok Ma Chau Loop was also helping to form connections between Kazakhstan and Hong Kong technology firms, said Anita Chau, director of ecosystem development at the park.
This included a “close relationship” with Astana Hub, an innovation cluster in Kazakhstan, she said.
The technology park supports companies from around the world, helping them roll out new products more quickly and aiding in the creation of production capabilities in the city through developments such as a manufacturing lab, she said.
“This is another example of how an ecosystem can support technology companies, help them move faster and create greater value for the industry,” she said.
Chinese drug makers investing in Kazakhstan include Sinopharm, Sinovac and Kangtai Biological Technology, all of which signed up for new production facilities in the country in January as the government seeks to boost local drug production. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
