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HKU-BICI Joint PhD Programme Student Wins Championship at the MedTech Hackathon GBA 2026
En He, a student in the HKU-BICI Joint PhD Programme, along with his supervisor, Professor Huang Jiandong, and Dr Renhao Li from Professor Huang’s Laboratory at the HKU Faculty of Medicine, won the championship at the MedTech Hackathon GBA 2026. The team was awarded for a project on treating solid tumours by their spin-off company, NOVOMI VAX Limited, which they co-founded.
Organised by the HKU Techno-Entrepreneurship Academy, HKU Techno-Entrepreneurship Core (TEC), and the Guangming Biopharmaceutical Innovation Center Bay Charm, the MedTech Hackathon GBA 2026 aims to empower researchers to translate innovative ideas into market-ready solutions. After multiple rounds of pitching, En He’s team was selected as one of three finalists to give a final pitch at Hong Kong’s premier healthcare event, the Asian Summit of Global Health (ASGH), held on May 11–12, 2026. They presented their project to a distinguished audience of industry leaders, showcasing their groundbreaking work and winning the MedTech Hackathon GBA 2026 championship.
The team’s winning project, “Broad Spectrum Reprogramming Tumour Immunity Therapy”, seeks to address critical challenges in treating solid tumours, including lack of effective drug targets, high heterogeneity, and the ‘cold tumour’ phenotype. Their innovative approach involves intratumoral injection therapy that reprogrammes tumours in situ to express exogenous pathogen antigens. This recruits immune cells to attack the tumour, while dying tumour cells release tumour-specific antigens and induce local inflammation, further promoting immune cell infiltration and converting ‘cold’ tumours into ‘hot’ ones. Additionally, the abundant viral antigens activate systemic immunity, triggering a systemic anti-tumour response that achieves distant therapeutic effects.
“Winning the championship is, for NOVOMI VAX, just a small milestone on a long journey, yet it still gives us great encouragement,” En He shares. “From a complete novice who knew nothing about business, to now being able to win first place in an international competition on behalf of the team, this journey of growth would not have been possible without the ample time for guidance and unreserved trust from Professor Huang Jiandong, as well as the meticulous support and encouragement from the BICI team, the HKU TEC team, and other organisations. Moving forward, I will continue to push myself and strive to drive NOVOMI VAX toward its next milestone. I also look forward to walking even more steadfastly, and going further, on my own path of scientific research and translational development.”
Building on this success, they aim to conquer solid cold tumours worldwide and make cancer as treatable as the common cold.
En He (left) and Dr Renhao Li’s (right) team was selected among the top three to present in the final pitch event at the ASGH.
En He (second from right) and Dr Renhao Li (second from left) receiving the championship award at the Asian Summit of Global Health (ASGH).
En He presenting his project “Broad Spectrum Reprogramming Tumour Immunity Therapy” at ASGH.