KOTA SAMARAHAN: A compound for blood cancer therapy that was clinically tested at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) has been purchased by an American pharmaceutical company for US$1bil (RM4.05bil), Deputy Premier Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian has disclosed.
He said the clinical trial in 2022 was also the first time it was tested on a live patient in the country.
He did not name the pharmaceutical company that developed the compound but said it sold the formula to the US firm two years later.
Dr Sim said SGH's Clinical Research Centre (CRC) was picked for the clinical trial ahead of hospitals in more advanced Asian countries in Asia, Singapore for example, because "we have a reputation in clinical research".
"Clinical research is better than medical tourism," he said when launching an integrated development at the Sarawak Health Metropolis here on Monday (Sept 14).
The Health Metropolis encompasses the Sarawak Heart Centre, the proposed Sarawak Cancer Centre and the Sarawak Infectious Disease Centre.
The 1,000-bed SGH in Kuching is the principal government tertiary hospital in Sarawak and one of the most important referral hospitals in Sarawak and Sabah.
Dr Sim said even though SGH is underfunded, its CRC should capitalise on its reputation as a research centre, as clinical research is a multibillion-dollar industry.
He pointed to a Swiss research centre which generates a revenue of six billion Swiss francs as an example to emulate.
