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  Business Times 30 Mar 07
S'pore wants to draw more investments in biologics
 Investments total US$940m so far but have not reached critical mass yet
By Chen Huifen

(SINGAPORE) Singapore is aggressively chasing investments in biologics so the country will play an increasing part in producing these drugs or other treatments made from living material - human, plant, animal or micro-organism.

In less than two years, Singapore has already attracted major investments in four biologics plants in Tuas amounting to a total investment of up to US$940 million. These four plants could create 850 highly skilled jobs when fully realised.

Biologics, or biopharmaceutical manufacturing, is the production of protein-based drugs, including liquid injections such as vaccines, hormones and insulin. They are produced by culturing living cells, while pharmaceutical medicines are chemically synthesised.

A*Star chairman Philip Yeo said that in the chemical side, as far as pharmaceutical manufacturing is concerned, Singapore is the strongest in Asia excluding Japan.

'In the biologics area we are still number one (in this region), but we are young,' he said. 'I don't think we have reached a critical mass (yet).' Mr Yeo was speaking to BT on the sidelines of a press briefing to announce a US$140 million investment by Genentech on Wednesday.

The biotech giant is building a new plant in Singapore to produce vaccines for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration of the eye. In addition to the Genentech plan, GlaxoSmithKline is also building a vaccine production site here.

Swiss contract manufacturer Lonza is laying the bricks for two others, and not ruling out a third plant in Singapore either. 'We definitely would like to expand,' said Lonza's head of biopharmaceuticals, Stephan Kutzer, yesterday, at a ground breaking ceremony for his company's second plant in Singapore. 'It all depends obviously on how the business and how the pipeline is developing ... The biopharmaceutical pipeline is very strong, so the likelihood is definitely there.'

Singapore is believed to be the only country in this region that is actively growing the biologics sector in a concerted manner.

The strong interest stems from the rising proportion of biologics products that are being approved by the US regulator the Food and Drug Administration.

'Biologics currently make up about 10 per cent, or about US$63 billion, of the market for all pharmaceutical products (estimated at US$640 billion), but the sales of biologics are growing at more than double the rate of chemical-based, synthetic drugs,' said Novartis Pharma executive director Hans Kocher.

'With the large number of biologics in preclinical and clinical development, sales of biopharmaceuticals are expected to continue to outgrow pharmaceuticals in the years to come.'

Diversifying into biologics will also entrench the island's status as a centre for biomedical sciences manufacturing, which include the pharmaceutical and medical technology sectors. It will raise the barrier for competing centres because of the highly skilled manpower required and complexities associated with biologics.

'The entry barriers are high for this sector,' said Economic Development Board (EDB) biomedical sciences group executive director Yeoh Keat Chuan. 'It requires a commitment to build capabilities ahead of demand and an established track record for biopharmaceuticals manufacturing.'

For one, all new plants have to fulfill more stringent criteria than pharmaceutical facilities before they can produce for the US market, the world's largest user of life sciences products.

Product qualification is also more demanding in biologics because the process of growing living cells is more difficult to control, said Miranda Yap, executive director of A*Star's Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI). Singapore's strategy is to build its capabilities in all parts of the value chain - from research, to pilot-scale production, to commercial-scale manufacturing.

On the R&D side, the BTI houses expertise in animal cell technology, microbial fermentation and other biologics-related fields. EDB's biomedical investment arm Bio*One Capital is also looking at wooing biologics research entities here.

Homegrown company A-Bio Pharma provides small-scale contract manufacturing for use in clinical trials, while Lonza's presence in Singapore completes the entire spectrum of biologics manufacturing solutions for companies looking to outsource their needs.

In the area of manpower, tertiary education providers here are training about 3,500 graduates and technicians every year in life sciences related fields. 'Basically we are creating the biosciences sector to be a more resilient and more robust sector, with greater depth and breadth,' said Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang, the guest of honour at Lonza's groundbreaking yesterday. 'So we expect more investments to come in.'
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