This year marks the twentieth anniversary of BGI Group’s close relationship with the Kingdom of Thailand. Initially brought together through an international humanitarian rescue effort, the cooperative relationship has extended into many areas of healthcare, research, disease identification, and testing to support disease prevention.

Currently, BGI Group and relevant institutions in Thailand have cooperation agreements or active programs in areas of public health, genomic research, precision medicine, advanced agriculture techniques, talent training and other fields to facilitate the joint development of life sciences in Thailand, bringing cutting-edge science and technology that benefits Thai people.

The group photo of the DNA identification team from BGI and other international rescue teams.

Yet, it was sorrow and suffering that first brought the two parties together in friendship. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami devastated parts of the coastal areas of Thailand, killing anyone in its way. Thousands of people could only be identified through their DNA. A team from BGI were sent to the scene and in the coming months worked with authorities to complete the DNA testing at no cost as a mark of respect and support to the families who had suffered loss.

Over the ensuing two decades, cooperation between BGI Group and Thailand has steadily grown.

Accurate testing services to support people’s health

Since establishing cooperation with Thailand, BGI has launched a series of genetic testing services in this South-eastern country, focusing on reproductive health, infectious diseases, cancer prevention and control, and chronic disease management. These efforts continuously aid the development of precision medicine in Thailand and promote the benefits of genetic technology for Thai people.

Starting in 2012, BGI Group has worked closely with the Thai Red Cross Society, and that year introduced its non-invasive prenatal test, NIFTY, to King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. Since then, nearly 100,000 non-invasive prenatal tests have been carried out, helping parents better understand the health of the fetus and the risk of certain genetic abnormalities.

In 2017, BGI Genomics, a subsidiary of BGI Group, together with local partners, formed the Bangkok Genomics Innovation (BKGI), a joint venture that is dedicated to providing a number of clinical testing services, including non-invasive prenatal testing (NIFTY), non-invasive colorectal cancer early screening (COLOTECT™), hereditary deafness screening, thalassemia genetic testing and other medical testing services. All of these services benefit Thai people and provide early detection of certain diseases.

BGI Group continues to deepen genetic testing services in Thailand. To help Thailand strengthen its cancer prevention and treatment service system, in March 2023, BGI Group signed a memorandum of cooperation with Thai pharmaceutical companies Innobic (Asia), a pharmaceutical subsidiary company of Thailand's PTT Public Company Limited, and BKGI. The three parties will jointly promote early screening for colorectal cancer in Thailand and reduce the incidence of late-stage colorectal cancer through early detection and early intervention. 

In March 2023, Wang Jian, Co-founder and Chairman of BGI Group (fourth from left, back row), and Nopporn Chuenklin, Managing Director of the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) of Thailand (second from left, back row), and others, witnessed the ceremony.

In addition, BKGI is cooperating with Burapha University in Thailand to promote the popularization of early screening for bowel cancer by providing testing services to patients at the Burapha University Hospital in Thailand.

In July 2023, BGI Genomics signed a memorandum of understanding with Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital at Mahidol University, BKGI, and Hemogen Hongkong Alpha Technology., Ltd, on the improvement of Thalassemia prevention and treatment programs, joint development of cell and genetherapy collaboration. All parties will work together on research on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of thalassemia and carry out clinical trial cooperation on gene therapy for thalassemia in Thailand.

In July 2023, a memorandum was signed between BGI Genomics, the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital at Mahidol University, Bangkok Genomics Innovation (BKGI, a Thai joint venture company of BGI Genomics), and Hemogen Hongkong Alpha Technology to enhance thalassemia prevention and treatment.

Previously, BGI's thalassemia genetic testing and deafness genetic screening projects were included in the first batch of key projects of the "Lancang-Mekong Cooperation". By carrying out a series of public welfare activities such as genetic testing in the five Lancang-Mekong countries, the project helps alleviate the problem of "poverty caused by disease and return to poverty due to disease" and improves the well-being of local people.

Then in September 2023, BKGI cooperated with the Department of Health of the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand to build a hereditary tumor testing service laboratory to accelerate business cooperation in various fields. The laboratory officially started operations in November 2023.

BGI Group also contributed to the field of public health during the COVID pandemic by donating "Huo-Yan" laboratory air films and nucleic acid detection kits to the Thai Ministry of Health, helping Thailand better tackle the prevention and control of COVID.

In September 2022, Cao Sujie, Southeast Asia Regional General Manager, BGI Genomics, Vice President of International Department (first from left), Han Zhiqiang, the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China in the Kingdom of Thailand (second from left), Dr. Supakit Siriluk, General Department of Medical Sciences, Director (first from right), Dr. Ballang Uppapong, General Department of Medical Sciences, Deputy Director(second from right) at the donation of the “Huo Yan” Air Laboratory.

Cutting-edge technologies drive life sciences development

While testing is one aspect of public health, cutting-edge technology supports research and the broader development of life sciences.

In 2018, BGI signed a tripartite cooperation agreement with Thailand’s Chulabhorn Royal College and Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) to jointly build Thailand’s national platform for precision medicine. As part of the Thailand Precision Medicine Alliance, this cooperation is a supplement to the overall precision medicine cooperation in Thailand in talks between BGI and Thailand’s Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education.

In October 2018, BGI has signed a tripartite cooperation agreement with Chulabhorn Royal Academy and the Eastern Economic Corridor.

In 2022, Thailand launched a comprehensive action plan to promote five major research directions including rare diseases, cancer, non-communicable diseases, infectious diseases, and pharmacogenomics. Research advances in personalized diagnosis, drug selection, and treatment. The project's genome sequencing laboratory was built at Burapha University, and BGI has helped with its sequencing capability building. As of November 2023, the laboratory has delivered data on more than 22,000 samples.

In February 2023, BGI Group and Chulalongkorn University Faculty of Medicine signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly build a spatiotemporal omics research center to further strengthen local scientific research capacity building and promote the development of BGI Group’s spatiotemporal omics technology in tumor research, cell therapy and other fields.

And in March 2023, BGI Group signed a tripartite cooperation memorandum with Innobic (Asia), and BKGI to jointly promote the construction of an international life science innovation center and promote genomics technology and spatiotemporal omics. 

Strengthening Thailand's future in genomics through cooperation

Wang Jian, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of BGI Group, has been a regular visitor to Thailand to meet with Thai government departments and partners. Together, both parties aim to further strengthen cooperation in the fields of genomic research, disease prevention and control, precision medicine, agriculture, joint talent training, and other areas, to help "Thailand 4.0" and the Eastern Economic Corridor Plan.

In terms of future agricultural development, the Ministry of Agriculture of Thailand and local partners have shown strong interest in BGI's perennial rice, animal and plant genome research, and molecular breeding platforms, and will jointly explore cooperation opportunities.

Wang Jian, Co-founder and Chairman of BGI Group, and his delegation visited the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand.

To help grow life science talents in Thailand, BGI has reached a cooperation agreement with Chulalongkorn University, Mahidol University, Burapha University, and other institutes, to cultivate more specialized talents in the field of genomics for Thailand through joint genomics education projects. 

In 2023, Dr. Yin Ye, CEO of BGI Group (front row, left), Mr. Goanpot Asvinvichit, Director of Bangkok Genomics Innovation（front row, right）, and Dr. Chanchai Sittipunt, Dean of Faculty of Medicine of Chulalongkorn University（front row, middle）jointly signed an MoU.

While 20 years may seem like a long time, much has been accomplished through cooperation between BGI Group and Thailand. Yet, this is just the beginning, with the promise of a future where genomics will bring significant benefits to the Thai people.