PIKA Saves The Day

It is 2012. A new flu virus hits the world.....But "Don't Worry... Be Happy". The PIKA adjuvant saves mankind from destruction. Movie stuff? Maybe. So, what is PIKA?

PIKA is an adjuvant start up company I invested in, in 2004. An adjuvant is a compound that is added to vaccine to improve its performance as a preventive drug. It is like the caffiene in your coffee, and the "tiger in your tank", for those who still remember the Esso commercial. For a long time, in spite of the very positive scientific results, PIKA looked like it would not survive, as it was running out of cash. No new investor seemed willing to fund it. Certainly not the Singapore Government.

Then a breakthrough happened in mid 2008, when a team of local private equity investors chipped in money to fund the company. Soon, by introduction, a second group of private equity investors got interested and invested too, in 2009. Suddenly, PIKA lives again.

More interestingly, the scientific results continued to be very positive. The animal trials yielded results that were about 75 to 100 times more effective than conventional vaccines. Shareholders that have medical training or from the medical profession began to sound very excited and positive, as they felt that this could be a breakthrough in science. I am very excited too, given my stake in the company. Hopefully the returns could be life-changing.

This week, the Company will be submitting their findings to the Singapore Government. If approved, Human clinical trial testing could begin this year at the SGH. For now the company's plan is simple. Get the positive results from the human trial, and dangle that in front of the big pharmaceutical companies. If successful, this could be my legacy for mankind.

Even though my stake is very small, I am proud to be part of this venture. I remember fondly what the founder told me in 2005. In Chinese, he said: " I would not mind being called an ant and remain insignificant, if my product can be used to save the millions of lives". In similar tone, "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers and its flower falls away". But let this legacy be the one that endures forever.... No moth will eat away this legacy....