Due to rapid rises in sedentary lifestyle and overweight/obesity, diabetes has now reached epidemic proportions in both Mainland China and Hong Kong. A recent nationwide epidemiological survey in China showed that over 110 million adults are now suffering from diabetes and 500 million adults with prediabetes are at high risk to develop overt diabetes. 60.7% of diabetic patients currently remain undiagnosed and untreated. Diabetes is not only a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but is also causally associated with many types of cancers. China is projected to spend 558 billion USD as a result of diabetes and its cardiovascular complications in the next 10 years. While these chronic diseases impose an enormous social and economic burden, the huge healthcare market also represents a golden opportunity to develop our pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry in Hong Kong and Mainland China.

The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology was approved by Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) at July 2013, with the funding support from Hong Kong Innovation & Technology Council (ITC). Our strategic partner is State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at Nanjing University. Our laboratory consists of a group of leading clinicians and scientists in Hong Kong across multiple disciplines, including biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology, pharmacology and pharmacy, chemistry, nanotechnology and medical engineering, to establish an integrated, open platform for basic, clinical and translational research on obesity, diabetes and its associated chronic complications. We will focus on “discovery and characterization of new hormones and biomarkers, and exploration of their potential application in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry”.