由Fintan Burke (by Fintan Burke)
The development of new medical technologies based on cutting-edge discoveries has accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic and is helping us respond to the health crisis. But for these technologies to flourish, attitudes and scepticism among investors still need to change, say researchers and start-ups.
在冠状病毒大流行期间，基于尖端发现的新医疗技术的发展已经加速，并正在帮助我们应对健康危机。 但研究人员和初创企业表示，为了使这些技术蓬勃发展，投资者之间的态度和怀疑仍然需要改变。
‘Deep tech’ describes companies working with technologies such as advanced material science, artificial intelligence or biotech to bring completely new scientific discoveries or engineering breakthroughs to businesses. For example, deep tech includes pharmaceutical companies using the ultra-fast processing power of quantum computers to simulate complex chemical reactions to discover new drugs, or using artificial intelligence and machine learning to build navigation systems for self-driving cars.
“深度技术”描述了使用先进材料科学，人工智能或生物技术等技术为企业带来全新的科学发现或工程突破的公司。 例如，深度技术包括制药公司，这些公司使用量子计算机的超快速处理能力来模拟复杂的化学React以发现新药，或者使用人工智能和机器学习来构建自动驾驶汽车的导航系统。
Deep tech is often based on ‘fundamental’ research driven by scientific curiosity about new, untested theories — rather than ‘applied’ research, which improves existing technology.
深度技术通常基于对新的，未经检验的理论的科学好奇心驱动的“基础”研究，而不是“应用”研究，后者可以改进现有技术。
Although the term is new, the approach has been around for decades, says Jonathan Wareham, a Professor of Information Systems at the ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain.
西班牙巴塞罗那ESADE商学院信息系统教授乔纳森·韦勒姆(Jonathan Wareham)说，尽管这个词是新的，但这种方法已经存在了数十年。
‘History has given us many examples of how deep technologies have diffused into clinical products or medicines that have been tremendously helpful,’ he said. He gives the example of how Paul Dirac’s theory of antimatter evolved from a theory that even Dirac didn’t believe to being the science behind modern PET scanners.
他说：“历史为我们提供了许多例子，说明深度技术如何广泛应用于临床产品或药物中，这些方法大有帮助。” 他举例说明了保罗·狄拉克(Paul Dirac)的反物质理论是如何从甚至狄拉克(Dirac)都不相信的理论演变为现代PET扫描仪背后的科学的。
New wave
新浪潮
As the coronavirus spread through Europe in early 2020, many deep tech companies adapted their technology to help with the response.
随着冠状病毒在2020年初在欧洲传播，许多深度科技公司都对其技术进行了调整以帮助应对。
Prof. Wareham is part of the ATTRACT project which oversees nearly 170 deep tech projects to help them reach investors. He believes that a new wave of medical technology based on fundamental research can readily respond to the pandemic.
Wareham教授是ATTRACT项目的一部分，该项目负责监督近170个深技术项目，以帮助他们吸引投资者。 他认为，基于基础研究的新一波医疗技术可以轻松应对这种流行病。
An example of this is Galactica Biotech, an Irish company using machine learning to help small pharmaceutical companies find new uses for their medical molecules. Since the molecules are already approved for medical use, new drugs based on the molecules are often approved faster. They are now working with companies to look for molecules that could create coronavirus treatments.
这方面的一个例子是Galactica Biotech，这是一家爱尔兰公司，它使用机器学习来帮助小型制药公司找到其医疗分子的新用途。 由于分子已经被批准用于医疗用途，因此基于分子的新药物通常会被更快地批准。 他们现在正在与公司合作，寻找可能产生冠状病毒治疗的分子。
Galactica has experience in this area, having used their artificial intelligence algorithm during the 2014 Ebola outbreak to search for possible treatments.
Galactica在这一领域具有丰富经验，曾在2014年埃博拉疫情期间使用其人工智能算法来寻找可能的治疗方法。
‘In this case we did the same with the coronavirus,’ said co-founder Dr Jorge Valencia. ‘We just updated some parameters and data.’
联合创始人豪尔赫·瓦伦西亚博士说：“在这种情况下，我们对冠状病毒也做过同样的事情。” “我们刚刚更新了一些参数和数据。”
Dr Valencia says work done at Galactica has helped companies to develop new drug combinations that can treat the symptoms of the virus. He says that, like the Ebola epidemic before it, the coronavirus pandemic brought about a drastic shift in their business as more companies work on the coronavirus response.
瓦伦西亚博士说，卡拉狄加(Galactica)所做的工作已帮助公司开发出可以治疗病毒症状的新药组合。 他说，就像之前的埃博拉疫情一样，随着越来越多的公司致力于冠状病毒的应对，冠状病毒大流行使他们的业务发生了急剧变化。
Research institutes are also shifting their work to help. The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France, can generate powerful X-rays by forcing a fast-moving electron to change direction. The X-rays can then be focused by the ESRF’s 32 beamlines.
研究机构也在转移工作以提供帮助。 法国格勒诺布尔的欧洲同步辐射装置(ESRF)可以通过强迫快速移动的电子改变方向来产生强大的X射线。 然后可以通过ESRF的32条光束线聚焦X射线。
The ESRF have now made these beamlines available for Covid-19 based research. Using these X-ray beams can be useful to analyse fast and complex biological processes, such as protein reactions.
ESRF现在已将这些光束线用于基于Covid-19的研究。 使用这些X射线束可以用于分析快速而复杂的生物过程，例如蛋白质React。
Dr Michael Krisch, chair of the ATTRACT consortium board, and a scientist at ESRF has seen big changes take shape in just months. He notes that X-ray researchers at ESRF quickly got together to make their facilities available for Covid-19-related research while under lockdown.
ATTRACT财团董事会主席，ESRF的科学家Michael Krisch博士已经看到，在短短几个月内就已形成了重大变化。 他指出，处于锁定状态时，ESRF的X射线研究人员Swift聚集在一起，使其设施可用于与Covid-19相关的研究。
‘I clearly see a completely new approach where the research infrastructures get their act together to tackle jointly a huge issue,’ he said.
他说：“我清楚地看到了一种全新的方法，研究基础设施将共同采取行动共同解决一个巨大的问题。”
Having worked at other fundamental research institutes such as Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) in Germany and the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, US, Dr Krisch was impressed by the speed at which research was reoriented towards, for example, using ESRF instruments to view the lung tissue of Covid-19 patients.
Krisch博士曾在其他基础研究机构工作，例如德国的Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron(DESY)和美国纽约的Brookhaven国家实验室，对研究重新转向使用ESRF仪器进行研究的速度印象深刻。查看Covid-19患者的肺组织。
‘Typically, things take a long time because there’s a lot of inertia. I think people were so shocked by the violence of this crisis’ that it shook up the system, he said.
“通常，事情需要很长时间，因为惯性很大。 他说，我认为人们对这场危机的暴力行为感到震惊，以至于震惊了整个系统。
The coronavirus pandemic has given deep tech funding an opportunity, Dr Krisch says. ‘(European research infrastructures) have become very receptive to accelerating processes and mechanisms to allow result-driven research and innovation which is not their typical timescale.’
Krisch博士说，冠状病毒大流行为深厚的技术资金提供了机会。 “(欧洲研究基础设施)已经非常接受加速流程和机制，以实现结果驱动型研究和创新，这不是典型的时间表。”
‘That initial process of (deep tech) R&D is done by taxpayers. It’s almost a gift for investors.’
``(深技术)研发的初始过程是由纳税人完成的。 这几乎是给投资者的礼物。”
- Prof. Jonathan Wareham, ESADE Business School, Barcelona, Spain
-西班牙巴塞罗那ESADE商学院Jonathan Wareham教授
Potential
潜在
Nonetheless, there are intrinsic problems with deep tech that continue to affect it, says Prof. Wareham. Since deep tech uses new concepts such as quantum technology, it can take years for investors to fully appreciate its potential. Deep tech start-ups looking for early investment are at a disadvantage when talking to sceptical investors.
Wareham教授说，尽管如此，深层技术仍存在一些内在问题，这些问题继续影响着它。 由于深度技术使用了诸如量子技术之类的新概念，因此投资者可能需要数年时间才能充分意识到其潜力。 与怀疑的投资者交谈时，寻求早期投资的深度科技创业公司处于不利地位。
‘The problem with this in terms of selling it in the public imagination is that cause and effect is difficult,’ he said. ‘You’re not talking about a car sharing app. You’re talking about something that could take maybe 10 years before it piloted, tested, produced and commercialised.’
他说，在公众的想象中出售此书的问题在于，因果关系很难实现。 '您并不是在谈论汽车共享应用程序。 您谈论的内容可能需要10年才能进行试点，测试，生产和商业化。”
Different national attitudes in Europe can also hinder deep tech companies developing their products. This has been the experience of BeSure Online, a Dutch start-up that uses wearable medical devices to monitor people at risk of strokes or cardiovascular disease. They have adapted this technology to help doctors monitor at-risk Covid-19 patients during their recovery.
在欧洲，不同的国家态度也可能会阻碍深度科技公司开发其产品。 这是荷兰BeSure Online的经验，该公司使用可穿戴医疗设备来监测有中风或心血管疾病风险的人。 他们采用了这项技术，以帮助医生在康复期间监测处于风险中的Covid-19患者。
According to BeSure cofounder Olga Chumakova, the difficulty of trying to reach European investors during lockdown became obvious immediately. ‘It was a little bit difficult to launch into international partnership and collaboration because we don’t have an opportunity to travel as normal,’ she said. ‘On the other hand, we demonstrated that our project could be launched completely remotely.’
根据BeSure联合创始人Olga Chumakova的说法，在锁定期间试图接触欧洲投资者的困难立即变得显而易见。 她说，要进入国际伙伴关系和合作有点困难，因为我们没有机会正常旅行。 “另一方面，我们证明了我们的项目可以完全远程启动。”
The technology gained attention in countries like France and Spain, where the devices are being trialled. Chumakova says that some European countries put their requirements online, making it faster and easier to get approval for their product there. ‘We can check all requirements and we can adapt our product completely remotely. It’s a challenge for us, but we can fix it.’
该技术在正在试用该设备的法国和西班牙等国家引起了关注。 Chumakova说，一些欧洲国家/地区将其要求在线发布，从而使在该国获得产品批准的速度更快，更容易。 '我们可以检查所有要求，并且可以完全远程地调整我们的产品。 对我们来说，这是一个挑战，但我们可以解决。”
She also feels that poor communication across borders impedes feedback. ‘Our product is a little bit difficult for international general practitioners because they do not understand clearly how to monitor patients,’ she said. ‘It would be much better in the future, for example, if governments and public authorities could launch something to help us to connect with healthcare providers to better understand their needs.’
她还感到跨境沟通不畅会阻碍反馈。 她说：“对于国际全科医生来说，我们的产品有点困难，因为他们不清楚如何监控患者。” “例如，如果政府和公共当局可以推出一些措施来帮助我们与医疗保健提供者建立联系以更好地了解他们的需求，那么将来会更好。”
Collaborate
合作
Dr Krisch thinks that researchers need to collaborate better too. There is room for further improvement, according to him, but the current crisis has also created an unexpected opportunity.
Krisch博士认为研究人员也需要更好地合作。 他说，还有进一步改善的空间，但当前的危机也创造了意想不到的机会。
The ESRF and other synchrotron X-ray facilities have launched a call for proposals to allow consortia of researchers with different disciplines to use the unique experimental facilities for research on the coronavirus. Dr Krisch says that seeing different experts coordinating their experiments as one proved how efficient experiments can be. ‘The amount of data and the amount of results produced was quite striking,’ he said.
ESRF和其他同步加速器X射线设备已经发出征集建议书，以允许具有不同学科的研究人员团体使用独特的实验设施来研究冠状病毒。 Krisch博士说，看到不同的专家协调他们的实验，证明了实验的效率。 他说，数据量和产生的结果相当惊人。
For Prof. Wareham, better communication of deep tech’s low-risk potential could be better. ‘You have to convince people that the benefit that deep tech has is that researchers develop the technology. They test it, they operate it and scale it. That initial process of R&D is done by taxpayers. It’s almost a gift for investors.’
对于Wareham教授来说，更好地交流深度技术的低风险潜力可能会更好。 ”您必须说服人们，深层技术的好处在于研究人员可以开发该技术。 他们对其进行测试，操作和扩展。 最初的研发过程由纳税人完成。 这几乎是给投资者的礼物。”
The breakthrough science that deep tech uses can also be reinterpreted for a second life as another new technology, says Dr Krisch. Having different disciplines work together can help that happen.
Krisch博士说，深度技术使用的突破性科学也可以重新诠释为另一种新技术。 让不同的学科一起工作可以帮助实现这一目标。
‘You put a physicist together with an architect and psychologist, and they have three completely different angles. And in the end, you come up with a smart idea you didn’t think about as a physicist or psychologist on your own,’ he said.
“您将物理学家与建筑师和心理学家放在一起，他们有三个完全不同的角度。 最后，您想到了一个聪明的主意，您自己没有想到自己是物理学家还是心理学家，”他说。
In the future he hopes that bringing investors closer to fundamental research will help create deep tech businesses that respond to future crises, like climate change.
他希望将来，使投资者更接近基础研究将有助于创建能够应对诸如气候变化等未来危机的深度科技业务。
‘I think one of the strongest common denominators (between the pandemic and climate change) is early detection,’ Dr Krisch said. ‘One of the lessons to be learned is how we can use deep tech to prevent future crises.’
克里斯切博士说：“我认为(在大流行和气候变化之间)最强大的共同点之一是早期发现。” “要吸取的教训之一是，我们如何利用深度技术来预防未来的危机。”
Jonathan Wareham and Dr Michael Krisch will be speaking at a panel to discuss deep tech and breakthrough innovation at the European Research and Innovation Days conference which will take place online from 22–24 September.
Jonathan Wareham和Michael Krisch博士将在 9月22日至24日在线 召开 的 欧洲研究与创新日会议上 ， 讨论先进技术和突破性创新的小组讨论 。
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Originally published at horizon-magazine.eu.
最初发布于 horizon-magazine.eu 。
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