BGI’s cooperation with Thailand began with an international humanitarian mission. In 2004, BGI joined DNA identification work in Thailand after the Indian Ocean tsunami, supporting victim identification and disaster relief. This cross-border commitment became the starting point for BGI’s broader cooperation with Thailand.

Before 2012, non-invasive prenatal testing, or NIPT, had not yet entered Thailand’s prenatal health screening sector. That year, BGI Group worked with Chulalongkorn Hospital to introduce NIPT technology to Thailand for the first time.

Today, Thai families can access convenient, mature, and standardized NIPT services through the country’s healthcare reimbursement system, helping protect maternal and newborn health.

Behind this improvement in public well-being is one example of how BGI Group has brought advanced life science technologies into Thailand and made them useful for local communities. For more than a decade, guided by its mission of “Omics for All,” BGI Group has continued to work closely with Thai partners. Its contributions now extend beyond maternal and child health to national genomics infrastructure, research collaboration, public health prevention, precision medicine, and talent development.

Technicians work at genomic testing laboratory Bangkok Genomics Innovation.

Collaborative Research to Support Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment

Built on years of trust and practical cooperation, BGI Group and its Thai partners have developed a model that closely connects frontier research with clinical application.

At the research level, BGI has cooperated with leading Thai institutions including the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, and the Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University. Together, the partners have carried out large-scale method validation and technology optimization based on local clinical samples.

These research results have supported new approaches to thalassemia screening and diagnosis. With government policy support, Thailand has provided free thalassemia genetic testing and prenatal diagnosis services for pregnant couples, helping families identify risks earlier and make informed healthcare decisions.

BGI has also worked with Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health to support the development of a national rare disease diagnosis platform. Thalassemia is a good example of this cooperation. As one of the most common inherited diseases in Southeast Asia, thalassemia is a major public health challenge in the region. Drawing on its genomics expertise, BGI has worked with Thai partners to build a more complete approach covering screening, diagnosis, and treatment, bringing practical health benefits to local communities.

Production and preparation of Hemo-cel at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.

On the treatment side, under the leadership of Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health, BGI has worked with the Faculty of Medicine of Chulalongkorn University, and Hemogen Hongkong Alpha Technology., Ltd, to advance the localization of thalassemia gene therapy in Thailand. In January 2025, Hemogen’s first overseas HGI-001 injection, also known as Hemo-cel, was successfully produced locally in Thailand, marking an important step toward making innovative thalassemia treatment more efficient and accessible.

On November 24, 2025, the Southeast Asia Thalassemia Prevention Alliance (SEATPA) was officially launched in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

To accelerate the research of thalassemia and deployment for its care, in November 2025, a landmark regional public health cooperation project, the Southeast Asia Thalassemia Prevention Alliance (SEATPA), was launched in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Initiated by BGI Group, the Alliance aims to build a comprehensive thalassemia prevention network across Southeast Asia through a cross-border collaborative mechanism, including capacity buildings, standardized talent training systems, unifying technical specifications, increasing public awareness, and promoting the sharing of experiences in the prevention and control of hemoglobinopathies.

This full-cycle model, linking research collaboration with clinical translation, is helping Thailand build an integrated health prevention and care system. It also provides a practical and replicable example for inherited disease prevention and control across the Asia-Pacific region.

Industrial Deployment to Build a Local Service Ecosystem

Wang Jian, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of BGI Group, delivered a keynote speech at the Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC) in Bangkok, Thailand. (Courtesy of PMAC)        

In early 2025, BGI Group Co-founder and Chairman of the Board Wang Jian delivered a keynote at Thailand’s Prince Mahidol Award Conference in Bangkok, advancing his vision of “Omics for All” and stressing that genomic technologies should benefit everyone. He reaffirmed BGI Group’s long-term commitment to Thailand through partnerships in scientific research, education, and public health, including thalassemia screening and prevention.

Wang’s remarks underscored BGI’s mission-driven role in supporting Thailand’s healthcare development. To ensure that technologies and services truly take root locally, BGI Genomics, a subsidiary of BGI Group, and Thai partners established Bangkok Genomics Innovation, or BKGI, in 2017. Through localized operations, BKGI provides clinical genetic testing services for Thai people in areas including reproductive health, infectious diseases, cancer prevention, and chronic disease management.

Bangkok Genomics Innovation (BKGI).

With the support of BKGI, BGI’s long-standing cooperation with Thai partners has continued to deepen. Since BGI first introduced NIPT services to Thailand in 2012, BGI and local partners have carried out nearly 100,000 NIPT tests over the past decade. In 2025, BGI and BKGI successfully supported the inclusion of NIPT into Thailand’s healthcare reimbursement system, completing a full journey from technology introduction to inclusive public access.

BGI has also worked with Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health to promote the inclusion of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer screening into the healthcare reimbursement system, further expanding the role of genetic testing in disease prevention and early intervention.

Thailand Ministry of Public Health, BGI Genomics and BKGI Sign COLOTECT™ MOU to Advance Colorectal Cancer Screening.

In colorectal cancer screening, based on previous research with Chulalongkorn University, the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, and other institutions, BGI Genomics signed a memorandum of understanding in May 2025 with Thailand’s Department of Medical Sciences under the Ministry of Public Health and BKGI. The partnership will use BGI Genomics’ COLOTECT™ non-invasive stool DNA methylation testing technology to support colorectal cancer screening and help strengthen Thailand’s public health prevention system.

Relying on BKGI as a local platform, BGI has continued to expand practical cooperation with Thai medical institutions. This includes working with Thailand’s Department of Medical Services under the Ministry of Public Health to build hereditary tumor testing service capacity, while also partnering locally on equipment and reagent production to support a more competitive local life science supply chain.

Cultivating Local Talent to Strengthen Long-Term Cooperation

Talent development is an important foundation for BGI’s long-term, high-quality cooperation with Thailand’s life science and healthcare sectors.

Representatives of Southeast Asia’s first International Training Program on Genetic Disease Interpretation held by BGI Genomics.

In recent years, BGI has cooperated with leading Thai universities including Chulalongkorn University, Mahidol University, and Burapha University to develop joint genomics education programs. These programs combine degree education with hands-on research, giving students from different academic backgrounds the opportunity to learn advanced technologies and participate in frontier research projects. So far, BGI has worked with top universities in APEC member economies including Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia to train more than 100 undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students.

BGI has also organized technical training workshops and academic exchange activities for Thai healthcare professionals and researchers. Topics have covered genetic disease diagnosis, cancer early screening, gut microbiome research, and other areas. These programs help improve local professional capabilities and support the wider application of genomic technologies in clinical and research settings.

This multi-level talent development system is helping strengthen Thailand’s independent innovation capacity in life sciences and healthcare. It also offers a useful model for talent cooperation among APEC economies.

Looking ahead, BGI will keep contributing its experience, technologies, and partnership model to support Thailand and the wider Asia-Pacific region, making advanced genomic technologies more accessible and beneficial to all.