‘Dr Somchai’ maker plans five health patents in five years
SS Manufacturing Co Ltd, the Thai manufacturer of “Dr Somchai”-brand cosmeceutical products, aims to register five medicine patents during the next five years, the products of its advanced use of genome editing, for which it recently opened a research centre in Singapore.
The company has already registered a patent in the United States for a small molecule it claims can kill cancer cells.
Executive director Dr Ornin Ruangwattanasuk this week expressed concerned with the “negative prospects” of the Thai cosmetics business.
“The industry has been on the decline since Q2 and its outlook in Q3 and Q4 remains unfavourable due to the global economic slowdown,” she said.
“Furthermore, the traditional sustainable business model faces a major challenge from the startup model. New-enterprise value is on the rise, making the overall business environment highly competitive. Our response is to become flexible and proactive and to place emphasis on innovation and quality products.
“The Dr Somchai brand is the first line of cosmeceutical products in Thailand that enjoys market acceptance – thanks to our laboratory and research capability. Our staff comprises several PhD graduates. Our research work is published regularly in overseas journals.
“We will register two more patents this year and intend to bring the total to five in the next five years,” Ornin said. “We look at this development as a critical step to drive innovation. Our company has embraced [gene-editing program] CRISPR as a new way to improve the process of creating protein to cure diseases. Its potential has generated equity participation interests from companies in Brazil and Dubai.”
