ExportWise - Winter 2008 - Singapore Bets on Biotech
By Peter Brake
Singapore has long positioned itself as a sanctuary of forward economic thinking and leadership, offering stability and respect for law and order as an alternative to the disorder, political uncertainty and corruption that plagues many of its Asian neighbors. In fact, multi-nationals are frequently choosing Singapore as their base for regional business, drawn by its promise of stability and order as well as proximity to a huge marketplace of more than 2.8 billion people living within a few hours’ flight time.
Evolving from a simple shipping port with minimal inherent resources to today possessing one of the highest standards of living, education and income in Asia, Singapore is an economic wonder. But globalization and competition from lower-cost regions are weakening the nation’s standing as a leading foreign investment and manufacturing hub. Seeking a cure, Singapore is aiming at moving its industry up the knowledge value chain, recreating itself as a centre of research and development (R&D) in biomedical science.
In 2003, the Singaporean government identified biomedical science as a future key economic driver and launched an ambitious plan to make the nation the premier Asian life sciences centre focused on biotechnology, medical devices, healthcare services and pharmaceuticals. The centrepiece of the initiative was the creation of Biopolis, a world class research facility offering leading edge R&D that attracted top notch talent wanting to pursue work in an open environment.
“Singapore’s advantages are an educated and skilled workforce, a focused supportive government and plenty of capital,” notes Tomás López Cabanillas, an Associate with Export Development Canada’s (EDC) Light Manufacturing Business Development Group. “Marry that to a state of the art scientific and manufacturing infrastructure and a political and social culture that respects, protects and rewards intellectual property and the groundwork exists for a vibrant and growing biotech sector.”
Singapore’s biotech strategy has seen heavy investment into seven research institutes established under the Singaporean Agency for Science, Technology and Research as well as providing a variety of financial incentives to encourage foreign investment in the biotech field.
López Cabanillas adds, “The 2006 Science and Technology Plan aimed to increase national investment in R&D to 3 per cent of GDP by 2010 with the goal of strengthening and deepening research capabilities; nurturing native Singaporean scientific talent; encouraging private sector R&D; as well as building the infrastructure to enable large-scale intensified long-term research programs.”
The goal is to establish world class capabilities across the entire biomedical value chain from pure science through to commercial applications including product/process development, full-scale manufacturing and healthcare delivery systems.
Singapore’s biomedical science manufacturing output has grown fourfold since 2002 with employment in the sector amounting to 10,571 in 2007, partway to its goal of 15,000 by 2015. International pharmaceutical giants such as Novartis, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline and Merck as well as leading biotechnology companies such as Genentech have established production facilities as well as partnerships with domestic Singaporean interests. American and European scientists have been lured to Singapore by offers of lucrative and stable funding and promises of academic freedom, and the World Economic Forum has recognized the nation as the best country in Asia for intellectual property protection.
Canada has much to gain from the increasing worldwide activity in health and life science products as well as Singapore’s heavy investment in biotechnology. Currently, Canadian pharmaceutical exports amount to $8 billion annually, but the growth potential is huge as the global pharmaceutical market could reach as much as USD 1.3 trillion by 2020 (PriceWaterhouseCoopers). Ranked as one of the top five biotech countries in the world, Canada’s R&D capability in pharmaceuticals is a natural extension of a Canadian educational focus on fields such as genomics, proteomics, bio-informatics, stem cells, immuno-therapies and protein engineering.
According to Francis Chan, Trade Commissioner with the Canadian High Commission in Singapore, “Our key objective is to nurture partnerships and collaborations between institutions and universities in both countries,” Chan adds.
“We facilitate visits from Canadian biotech firms and academia, and help coordinate networking events and partnering forums for interested parties. Singapore is Canada’s second largest export market in Southeast Asia with optical and medical equipment ranking among the top export products.”
Canadian companies such as VisualSonics Inc. and Zecotek Phototonics Ltd. (Zecotek) regard their involvement with Singapore’s biotech sector as important to future growth.
“VisualSonics’ cutting edge micro-imaging system’s chief advantage over other systems is that it is non-invasive, non-harmful and provides high-resolution imaging required for preclinical research in cancer, cardiovascular and stem cell applications, for example,” according to Steve Chackowicz, Vice-President of VisualSonics.
“Singapore’s ambition to establish itself as an Asian centre for biomedical research along with a notable adherence to bio-ethical standards means that it is a key market for our products.”
Zecotek has focused more on the commercial application of its research into bio-photonics developing high performance crystals, photo-detectors, medical lasers, optical imaging and 3D display technologies for use in medical diagnostics and the high-tech industry. “We established operational headquarters in Singapore because it offered significant research support, complete and comprehensive scientific infrastructure, key linkages to international research institutes and proximity to regional large scale manufacturing capacity,” say David Wynne, Zecotek’s COO.
Wynne adds, “The genius of Singapore has always been that it offers a relatively unique enterprise environment in Asia where industry and entrepreneurs can confidently pursue their commercial activities free of the uncertain political and legal concerns found elsewhere in the region.”
Seeking success in the biotech sector isn’t without its risks and challenges. “R&D typically requires a long-term investment cycle. It takes enormous capital and an unwavering commitment to see results and there is no guarantee that there will be ever be a substantial pay-off,” according to Chackowicz.
“Marketing highly advanced technical products such as ours requires specialized agents and distributors who can gain access to the players in a niche market and convey our products’ advantages and enhanced capabilities. It can be difficult to find a partner with the patience and continuous relationship building required to sell our instrumentation in Singapore or other developing markets.”
Notwithstanding Singapore’s investment in the biotech field, pure research institutes are always notoriously short of funding and suppliers should expect to be flexible on financing terms.
Singapore’s biotech issues are also noted by Wynne. “By itself Singapore represents a small market that is trying to catch up to established biotech leaders such as Japan, the United States and several other mostly European countries. At this point Singapore doesn’t yet have the critical mass needed to be a source of innovation, although it is evolving and is certainly a vital contributor to the value- added chain.”
Singapore has admitted that its historical emphasis on business and trade has resulted in an imbalance in producing the number of science graduates needed for Singapore to become a more potent force in the biotech community. Addressing this human capital deficit presents additional opportunities for Canadian science and educational product and service exporters. Bodies like the National Research Council have entered into agreements with Singapore counterparts to share information, establish exchange programs and collaborate on science projects, developing collegial linkages and adding value to the innovation agenda of both countries.
With that in mind, Canadian capabili-ties and innovation in the biotech sector may be just what the doctor orders to help Singapore reaffirm its economic preeminence in Asia.
| For more information Biomedical Sciences (BMS) initiative www.biomed-singapore.com Tomás López Cabanillas tlopezcabanillas@edc.ca Francis Chan Canadian High Commission in Singapore francis.chan@international.gc.ca www.singapore.gc.ca www.visualsonics.com www.zecotek.com |
Photo: © Luis Enrique Ascui/REUTERS
