Drug R&D KOL: Holistic approach; EU-China model

Research evidence excerpt

Drug R&D KOL: Holistic approach; EU-China model

Flashnote

19 May 2026

Pharma, Biotech & Life Sciences

AsiaDrug R&D KOL: Holistic approach; EU-

China model

Macquarie Asia Conference 2026 Tony Candyce

Ren Gao

Renowned drug developer in oncology, philantrophist

Cerina

• We hosted world-renowned oncology leader Dr Antoine Yver during Day 1 Zhang

of the Macquarie Asia Conference 2026. Dr Yver was Head of R&D at Daiichi

Sankyo and Centessa and a senior executive at AstraZeneca.

• Beyond his professional achievements, he is also deeply committed to social

impact, having adopted four children with Down Syndrome. He currently

operates two restaurants in the US and France that employ individuals with

mental disabilities. Charities associated with BioNTech and Medici Ventures

support Dr Yver's causes.

• Dr Yver suggests moving towards homeostasis-based therapeutics, early

disease prevention supported by AI-enabled diagnostics, and structural

formation of an EU-China block driven by US drug pricing and policy.

Homeostasis, prodromes, EU-China access alliance

• Dr Yver advocates therapeutics that restore the body's natural balance

(homeostasis), leveraging pleiotropism rather than focusing on a single

pathway/ target. He advocates a system-based approach that treats

biology as an interconnected network rather than linear pathways, where

therapeutics target multiple pathways simultaneously, e.g., by modulating

stress responses and restoring homeostasis rather than blocking single

disease drivers.

• While traditional pathway-driven drugs will continue to become more

precise and safer, they mostly treat symptoms after disease has already

developed. Dr Yver outlined a shift from treating diseases only after

symptoms appear to predicting and preventing them much earlier, i.e.,