Ex-Academia Sinica head, Filipino entrepreneur to receive BIO Asia Award

Taipei, July 21 (CNA) Former Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) and Philippine infectious disease specialist and entrepreneur Raul V. Destura were named recipients of the 2025 BIO Asia Award on Monday, according to the BIO Asia-Taiwan international committee.

Committee Chairman Johnsee Lee (李鍾熙) announced the two biologists as individual award recipients, and the Taipei-based Development Center for Biotechnology (DCB) as the institutional award recipient in a statement.

Introduced in 2024, the award is presented to honor individuals and institutes for their outstanding contribution in the "biotechnology and healthcare space" in the Asia Pacific, through innovation of technology, public health, regional cooperation or industrial development, Lee said in the statement.

The three awardees were picked from a list of finalists nominated by government representatives or organizations in the field from 11 countries, Lee said.

Wong is recognized globally as a leading chemical biologist for his research into complex sugars known as glycans and his discovery that those sugars control how proteins are manufactured in cells.

This has led to the development of low-sugar universal vaccines against cancer and viral pathogens, including coronavirus, according to the statement.

The Taiwan-born researcher headed the country's top research institution Academia Sinica from 2006 to 2016 and is currently the Scripps Family Chair Professor of Chemistry at the Scripps Research Institute in the United States.

Meanwhile, Destura, president and chief executive officer of Manila HealthTek Inc., was honored for developing low-cost and easy-to-use rapid test kits for infectious diseases, including dengue fever and COVID-19.

His efforts in the fields of detecting and preventing infectious disease have contributed greatly to health in the Philippines as well as Southeast Asia, according to the statement.

The DCB is credited with developing and transferring technologies to local businesses and supporting more than 200 startups as an incubator, the statement said.

The center has helped commercialize technologies involving medicine, vaccines and gene therapy, it added.

The 2025 BIO Asia-Taiwan International Conference and Exhibition, jointly organized by the global Biotechnology Innovation Organization and the Taiwan Bio Industry Organization, will be held July 23-27 at the Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei, with the awards ceremony to take place on Thursday.

Wong is scheduled to give a speech titled "Decoding the Secret Life of Carbohydrates," followed by Destura, who will share his experience in health care research and development in the Philippines, on Thursday, the event website showed.