SINCE his school days, Evan Cheah has been passionate about science. It is no surprise, then, that after earning two master’s degrees and a PhD in Health Science, he established his own startup, Inno Therapeutics, in 2018.
Inno Therapeutics specialises in drug development, vaccine innovation, and cellular therapeutic research, development, and manufacturing.
The company aims to bridge the gap between science, research and development (R&D), and commercialisation. It focuses on advancing scientific innovation, translational research and Malaysia’s position as a hub for biopharmaceutical development.
Its partnerships with research universities and international collaborators aim to tackle issues like female fertility and vaccine development.
The company also emphasises talent retention and compliance with regulatory standards, with a vision to be listed, compete globally, and drive breakthroughs in regenerative medicine and oncology.
Inno Therapeutics’ journey, however, has not been a bed of roses. Just as the company was taking off, Covid-19 struck and derailed Cheah’s plans.
Recalling that challenging period, Cheah says it was extremely tough for him and his two partners – scientists and former local university mates with the same passion – to deliver innovative, high-quality solutions to meet the growing demands of the global life-sciences market.
“Due to the global pandemic and movement control orders, we could not travel or carry out any R&D work.
“However, through perseverance and deep commitment to our cause, we managed to ride out the storm,” he tells StarBiz7.
Sharing how the company was conceptualised, Cheah says that while many people conduct research, it rarely transfers to a potential product.
“Our team tried to bridge the gap between science, R&D and the commercialisation of things.
“Initially, we started with day-to-day operations. Then, we managed to get private funding of RM2mil to start our core R&D on cell-based products.
“When Covid-19 scuttled our plans, we did not take any salary and invested everything back into sustaining the company.”
As market began to recover in 2021 and 2022, the company expanded its research into pharmaceutical drugs, cosmetics and vaccines.
Cheah says the start-up recently signed strategic collaborations with several local and international partners, including research universities such as Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar).
“We are working on drug development with UM, menstrual stem cells with UMS under a government-funded grant, and a talent-development initiative with Utar that enables their students to join our team as interns to conduct industrial research.
“With our groundwork and research, we hope to tackle female fertility issues to complement in-vitro fertilisation treatment available now. Vaccine development is next in the pipeline,” he adds.
Other partnerships include with Taiwan Bio Therapeutics, BioMab Inc and Reyoung Bio Sdn Bhd.
Cheah reveals that the collaboration with Taiwanese partners involves advanced cellular therapy and research product development, with both parties leveraging each other to penetrate the local and South-East Asian markets in what he describes as a “win-win situation”.
Inno Therapeutics is also discussing other joint ventures such as advanced translational R&D projects with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, including with the Sarawak Biodiversity Council to commercialise their native products.
“There will be no overlapping. We are very focused,” he explains.
Adopting the catchphrase “Innovating to Empower Breakthroughs”, Cheah says theirs is both a contract manufacturing organisation and a contract development and manufacturing organisation.
Under both categories, strict compliance with good manufacturing practices and regulatory bodies is a must.
“We have both manufacturing and R&D facilities. Our team is young, passionate and eager to put in time and effort in their work.
“As with other industries, harnessing and retaining talent is a key priority and challenge for us.
“We need to offer good incentives to engage and motivate them to stay on, such as funding them to complete a master’s degree or PhD,” he adds.
As the founder and managing director, Cheah says his vision is to see Inno Therapeutics get listed, bridge academic research with industry needs and compete with global players with patented, Made in Malaysia innovations.
“The pharmaceutical industry is huge and has vast potential. The government is also very supportive through various initiatives.
“We are part of the Bio-based Accelerator Programme (BBA) under Malaysia’s Bioeconomy Corp that nurtures bio-based startups to move up the value chain and become more innovative and tech-savvy.
“Our status as a BBA gives us special incentives in promoting our company on international platforms and other privileges to align with and leverage national policies on biotechnology, vaccines and other research developments.”
Cheah revealed that while many companies invest between 10% and 20% of available funding into R&D, Inno Therapeutics is an exception and has invested up to 40% over the years, in addition to funding for capital and facility expansion.
“This adds up to nearly half of our profit margin. Due to this, I have to convince our investors to be patient and stay with us a little longer to reap the rewards of our in-depth research and collaborations over the next five to 10 years.”
Cheah says: “In science, every single day, there is a new invention, a new discovery. Just like how Covid-19 exploded out of nowhere, there will likely be another potential disease outbreak in future.
“Hence, we tirelessly seek and strive to deliver more from our research.”
As a true-blue scientist, reading and writing journals is still part of Cheah’s pastime as he strives to fulfil his lifelong passion to “innovate, inspire and improve” people’s lives.
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