Spotting kidney disease early, redesigning the hospital meal: How two firms are changing healthcare

IN HEALTHCARE, small delays can have lasting consequences. A kidney condition detected too late can mean damage that cannot be reversed. A hospital patient who struggles to finish their meals may take longer to recover, spending more days in care than necessary.

Singapore-based Mesh Bio and Hong Kong-based My Care Healthcare are addressing these challenges by intervening earlier in the care journey or providing nutritional support in the recovery process.

Their work reflects a broader shift in healthcare innovation. Instead of concentrating value at the point of treatment through new drugs or devices, both companies have taken a more holistic approach – where earlier insight and timely support can protect patients from harm rather than attempt to reverse it later. By acting sooner, both companies are changing the trajectory of care, not just the response to illness.

Mesh Bio asked whether kidney disease could be spotted years earlier, before symptoms appear and treatment options narrow. My Care Healthcare examined a familiar issue in hospitals: patients with swallowing difficulties or chronic conditions who simply cannot eat the meals they are served, undermining recovery.

In solving these problems, both companies found more than clinical answers. They built viable businesses around prevention and recovery – an approach that has since earned them recognition at the 2025 Emerging Enterprise Awards, jointly organised by The Business Times and OCBC.

As Asia’s populations age rapidly, these two companies show how preventing decline earlier will contribute to easing pressure on the healthcare system as a whole.

When AI meets kidney disease tsunami

For Mesh Bio, the mission is urgent. Singapore’s rapidly ageing population and rising diabetes rates are fuelling a silent epidemic: chronic kidney disease, one of diabetes’s most serious complications. By the time symptoms appear, irreversible damage has occurred.

Enter HealthVector® Diabetes – the company’s breakthrough digital twin technology that does not just track health but predicts it.

Unlike static health records that only show what has already happened, digital twins are dynamic, virtual replicas of the human body that can be updated with real-time data. They mirror a patient’s physiological state and forecast what is coming next.

Tapping advances in analytics, modelling and applied research, the HealthVector® Diabetes software can flag chronic kidney disease risk up to three years in advance – creating a critical window for life-saving intervention. After securing Health Sciences Authority approval in 2023, the technology is now undergoing clinical trials.

“This is a large and important healthcare concern for Singapore as we think about the ageing population and rising chronic diseases,” says Mesh Bio founder and chief executive officer Andrew Wu. He founded the company in 2018 to harness artificial intelligence’s (AI) growing power for patient care.

The company’s innovation does not stop there. Its DARA software – already deployed across Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Philippines – assesses clinical data and provides personalised health management suggestions in seconds. For time-strapped doctors and clinicians, it is a game-changer.

The numbers tell the story: over 40 healthcare groups now use Mesh Bio’s technology, with hundreds of thousands of patients assessed. At a cost of just a few dollars per patient, DARA makes precision medicine accessible at scale.

Meanwhile, DARA serves as what Wu calls “a beachhead for introducing predictive analytics and AI solutions such as digital twins” across the region.

Wu credits the Emerging Enterprise Award with accelerating this trajectory, pointing to the $200,000 interest-free OCBC loan and heightened media visibility as catalysts. These were among the prizes offered to award winners.

“This award really helps to highlight the work that we’re doing. Ultimately, we hope that this increased visibility would lead to more interest, especially amongst healthcare providers, and also patients,” he says.

Restoring appetite during recovery

When Francis Ho and his mother, Peggy Cheung, saw the difficulties a relative faced after developing dysphagia – the medical term for swallowing difficulties – they decided to help others living with the same challenge.

In 2019, they founded My Care Healthcare. The company initially imported texture-modified meals from Japan for patients. But Ho and Cheung soon realised the food did not suit Chinese tastes, making it harder for patients to finish their meals. The answer was straightforward: make their own. My Care set up a factory in Guangdong to produce meals designed specifically for local palates.

The Hong Kong-based company did more than alter food textures – it rethought the entire eating experience. With nearly 50 employees at its Guangdong facility, My Care produces meals using natural ingredients that are carefully mashed and moulded into familiar forms, so they look, smell and taste like the dishes patients recognise.

Steamed pork patties. Macaroni soup. Comfort foods that meet International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative standards, while appealing to Chinese taste buds. Just as importantly, the meals are priced below what a typical cha chaan teng, or Hong Kong diner, would charge – making them viable for hospitals and care facilities.

The results are clear. Patients eating My Care meals consume about 350g per serving, compared with just 180g to 200g previously. According to Ho, better nutrition helps patients recover faster, shortening hospital stays and reducing complications and readmissions.

“We’re now operating in over 50 hospitals across mainland China, and we aim to grow that to between 100 and 125,” says Ho, My Care’s general manager.

Beyond dysphagia, the company has expanded its product range to serve patients with diabetes and kidney disease, adjusting protein levels based on the severity of their condition. With annual revenue in the tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars, My Care shows that improving patient care and building a sustainable business can go hand in hand.

This year, its expansion is gathering pace. Winning the Emerging Enterprise Sustainability Award has brought more than recognition, Ho says. Having built its business primarily by supplying hospitals and nursing homes, the company is now using that credibility to reach consumers directly.

My Care is entering markets such as Thailand and Australia through joint ventures, with partners already secured. At the same time, it is launching packaged meals through Hong Kong supermarkets and its own website, catering to patients recovering at home.

Sustainability is also part of the equation. When patients are able to finish their meals, food waste falls sharply. Combined with energy-efficient factory operations, My Care keeps waste to a minimum. But the biggest environmental gain, Ho notes, comes from faster recovery – shorter hospital stays and fewer repeat treatments, which together reduce the overall footprint of inpatient care.