VAST HORIZONS BEYOND HONG KONG

After enjoying a meteoric rise in his previous stints at pharmaceutical giants Novartis and Allergan, Eddy founded Arctic Vision in May 2019. Arctic Vision is an ophthalmology-focused biotechnology company that aims to deliver the latest medical treatments to serve the many millions of Asians who suffer from some form of eye disorder. Just last year, Eddy expressed his near-term goal this way: "I would like to partner and collaborate with companies to see if we can bring and develop novel treatments to China or Asia and ultimately commercialize them to benefit our patients."

Fast forward to March 2020, Arctic Vision took a step closer to realizing this objective when it signed an exclusive agreement with Clearside Biomedical—a Nasdaq-listed American drug company—to license, develop and market XIPERE™ in Greater China and South Korea. XIPERE is a proprietary drug that is delivered via Clearside's SCS Microinjector to treat macular edema resulting from uveitis (an inflammation of the middle layer of the eye).

Eddy's professional career in healthcare makes him the perfect executive to lead Arctic Vision. He spent almost a decade at Novartis where, as Medical Director and Head of Health Economics for Asia, the Middle East and Africa, he found himself making strategic decisions that would impact Novartis' operations in over 90 countries. In recent years, Eddy developed considerable experience in Greater China, first as the Executive Medical Director for Allergan China, then as Head of Terns China Biotechnology. In those roles, he was responsible for executing the firms' entire clinical, medical and R&D strategy for their Chinese portfolio.  

Hong Kong is not exactly a pharmaceutical powerhouse, so how did Eddy find himself in this field? He thanks HKUST for broadening his perspectives: "As PhD students we were required to publish in at least two peer-reviewed journals and attend one international congress. I learned to see things from a global perspective," he remarks. The Artic Vision founder and CEO is particularly grateful to his mentor and former PhD supervisor Professor Yung Hou Wong (now Chair Professor, Director of Biotechnology Research Institute, and Co-Director of Molecular Neuroscience Center at HKUST) for inspiring him to approach issues with an open mind and vision.  

Eddy also has advice for HKUST students who want to follow in his tracks, saying, "Keep learning continuously and understand how the world is changing." This is precisely how Eddy is fulfilling his dreams to help improve the eyesight and quality of life for millions of Chinese.  

Know more about Eddy from:

The Croucher Foundation – August 27, 2019