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Singapore's City of Life By Merlin Goldman, Ph.D., M.B.A. The government of Singapore is investing more than US$1.8 billion over the next five years to establish Singapore as the place for research into cancer, immunology, tissue engineering, and stem cells. Singapore's one-north project aims to be home to 15 world-class biomedical companies by 2010 and is confident of doubling the sector's current output, to over US$7 billion by 2005. At the center of their initiative is Biopolis, or "city of life", a center for biomedical sciences which covers 18.5 hectares and includes seven buildings at a cost of some US$290 million. Officially open at the end of October 2003, this substantial research complex has capacity for 1,500 scientists and will require an extensive international scientific recruitment drive to attract them. Singapore's drive to attract high-calibre researchers from around the world emphasizes the government's commitment to science. The government has already proved successful in persuading global pharmaceutical companies to place manufacturing plants in the country. Singapore offers a strong physical and regulatory infrastructure, global connectivity, and a skilled workforce. Companies that have already made Singapore their base for global active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) manufacturing are GlaxoSmithKline, Aventis, Merck & Co, Schering-Plough, and Pfizer, all of which operate multi-purpose plants with the capability to manufacture a wide range of APIs. In December 2003, Schering-Plough opened a new Multi-Product Bulk Pharmaceutical Plant and its first Chemical R&D Facility in Asia in order to increase production capacity, facilitate technology transfer, and support clinical studies globally. The opening of the new facilities, which cost approximately US$260 million to build and equip, marked the completion of Schering-Plough Corporation's expansion project announced in December 2000 for four new plants in Singapore on its existing site in Tuas. The other two plants, the Biotech Sterile Manufacturing and Tablet Facilities, were opened in November 2002. Schering-Plough first established a pharmaceutical presence in Singapore in 1995. Over the last two decades, Singapore has also built a firm base of basic and clinical research from institutions that have since achieved international standing. The Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) is a case in point. Established in 1987, it has been actively engaged in cutting-edge basic biomedical research and the generation of high quality Ph.D. students. IMCB now houses about 35 core research labs and 8 core facility units, consisting of over 400 research scientists in total. IMCB's research activities focus on five major fields: Cell Biology, Developmental Biology, Structural Biology, Infectious Diseases, and Cancer Biology. Established as an international arm of Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Singapore is an institution involved in biomedical research, medical education, and patient care. Through three divisions (Johns Hopkins Singapore Biomedical Center, Johns Hopkins Singapore Affiliated Programs, and Johns Hopkins--NUH International Medical Center), JHS works collaboratively with Singapore's academic and medical communities to further biomedical research and education, bringing new technologies and treatments to the benefit of patients. It is these institutions that have helped to raise the profile of Singapore and attract well-known individuals to head the research institutes at the newly created Biopolis in recent years as well as the early stages of commercial interest. Novartis plans to move its Institute for Tropical Diseases into one of two Biopolis buildings designated for private tenants, and the institute's director is Alex Matter, former head of oncology research at Novartis, who spearheaded the development of the cancer drug Gleevec. Although Novartis is a major tenant, a significant amount of space at Biopolis will be taken up by five research institutes run by the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR)--the Genome Institute of Singapore, the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, the Bioinformatics Institute, the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, and the Bioprocessing Technology Institute. Philip Yeo, A*STAR's Chairman, has spent the last few years performing his own recruitment drive, and in March 2001 he attracted Edison Liu, former head of clinical sciences at the U.S. National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, to take up a post as director of the Genome Institute. Singapore hopes one-north will become a vibrant community for life scientists by providing them with world-class facilities, communications, and the commercial environment sought by many researchers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was written by Merlin Goldman, Ph.D., M.B.A. He may be contacted via e-mail at merlin@magnetical.com . To view and purchase D&MD reports click here! |
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