March 15 Shenzhen - BGI Group recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Innobic (Asia) Company Limited, a life-science arm of Thailand's PTT Public Company Limited, and Bangkok Genomics Innovation Public Company Limited, a joint venture of BGI Group’s subsidiary BGI Genomics, to jointly establish an international life science innovation center and to collaborate on an early-prevention health program for colorectal cancer using BGI Genomics’ novel multi-target fecal DNA based assay, COLOTECT™.

Yin Ye, CEO of BGI Group (middle), Buranin Rattanasombat, Chief New Business and Infrastructure Officer of PTT (right), and Goanpot Asvinvichit, Director of Bangkok Genomics Innovation, jointly signed the MOU.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Wang Jian, Co-founder and Chairman of BGI Group, and Nopporn Chuenklin, Managing Director of the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) of Thailand. Yin Ye, CEO of BGI Group, Buranin Rattanasombat, Chief New Business and Infrastructure Officer of PTT, and Goanpot Asvinvichit, Director of Bangkok Genomics Innovation, jointly signed the MOU. Li Ning, Vice President of BGI Group, Cao Sujie, BGI Group's Southeast Asia Regional General Manager, Wang Xiaohan, BGI Genomics' Southeast Asia Regional General Manager, and others, attended the ceremony.

Wang Jian, Co-founder and Chairman of BGI Group (fourth from left, back row), and Nopporn Chuenklin, Managing Director of the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) of Thailand (second from left, back row), and others, witnessed the ceremony.

According to the MOU, the three parties will establish a long-term strategic partnership to promote the development of genomics technology, Spatio-temporal omics technology, cellular therapy, and others in the fields of scientific research and clinical applications. The cooperation will integrate resources in an efficient, transparent, and innovative manner to jointly establish an international life science innovation center. 

Additionally, the three parties will jointly promote an early-prevention health program for colorectal cancer in Thailand to reduce the incidence of late-stage colorectal cancer and help the country strengthen its tumor prevention and treatment capability, benefiting the Thai people with genetic technology.

As a world-leading organization in life sciences, BGI Group has been continuously enhancing cooperation with multiple sectors in Thailand.

In November 2021, the "Genomics Thailand Integrated Action Plan" (2020-2024) was officially launched. This project entails the whole-genome sequencing of 50,000 Thais, focusing on understanding rare diseases, cancer, non-communicable diseases, infectious diseases, and pharmacogenomics to promote personalized diagnosis, drug selection, and treatment research. Currently, two MGI DNBSEQ-T7RS ultra-high throughput gene sequencers have been deployed in the high-throughput sequencing laboratory of Thailand’s Burapha University to support the action.

In December 2022, Wang Jian visited Thailand and met with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and other officials and business partners. Prime Minister Prayut thanked BGI Group for its support and hoped it will continue to collaborate with Thailand in multiple fields such as genomic medicine. Both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in scientific research, healthcare, agriculture, talent training, and other areas.

In February this year, Yin Ye visited Thailand where he met with government officials, the scientific community, and business partners. During his visit, an MOU was signed between BGI Group and the Faculty of Medicine of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand for cooperation on Spatio-temporal omics development and training of research talent.