Singapore eyes biologics manufacturing
Singapore and is expected to be a key component of the country's
drug manufacturing activity in the future.
Biologic drugs, particularly monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), are set to account for one third of all drugs on the market by 2010 and drive around 60 per cent of pharma firm revenue growth by this time.
Singapore has been heavily investing in developing capabilities in this potentially lucrative market sector, as it keeps its eye on the prize.
To assist in this, the country has set up the Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) to develop manpower capabilities and establish cutting-edge technologies relevant to the bioprocess community, Sheo Shanker, head of Biomedical Sciences Group at the Singapore Economic Development Board, told In-PharmaTechnologist.com.
"The BTI is now also actively encouraging Western firms to set up bioprocessing operations or develop partnerships with domestic firms in Singapore and is providing incentives for the right companies to do so," said Shanker.
"It is currently in discussion with a number of international firms."
The country has also recently established a biomedical sciences scholarship system with the aim of training 1000 new researchers and 100 PhD graduates in the biologics industry over the next five years - since August, 394 scholarships have already been given out.
Singapore has already built up its reputation as a trusted site for pharmaceutical bulk actives and secondary manufacturing, however, it is yet to prove itself in the biologics manufacturing arena.
By building up its domestic capabilities as well as encouraging more international activity in the country, Singapore has been trying to gain the confidence of the global pharma community in this new field.
"It's like the chicken and egg scenario," Keat Chuan Yeoh, director of Biomedical Sciences Group at the Singapore Economic Development Board, told In-PharmaTechnologist.com.
"Companies weren't willing to trust their biologics manufacturing to Singapore because we had no experience in this area. At the same time, we couldn't get experience in this area because no company was willing to trust us."
To break this cycle, in 2003 Singapore created its own biologics company, A-Bio, which was funded by Bio*One Capital, a biomedical sciences investment management company based in Singapore, whose focus is to support the growth of companies in Asia through their operations in Singapore.
A-Bio is now Asia's leading biologics contract manufacturer providing small-scale clinical trial mammalian cell manufacturing, including process development, optimisation, manufacturing scale-up, GMP production, quality control and regulatory compliance.
Through A-Bio, Singapore managed to secure its first international customers, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Novo Nordisk, and following their lead, biologics contract manufacturer Lonza entered Singapore to set up its own 80,000L capacity facility for commercial scale manufacturing.
Biotech giant genentech snapped up all the capacity at Lonza's facility and now Lonza is building a new plant of the same capacity to fill further demand.
Meanwhile, GSK has set up its own biologicals unit for commercial drug production and Schering Plough now has its own fill and finish capabilities.
"We have now made a good start, with newly-formed capabilities in R&D, clinical-and commercial scale contract manufacturing as well as commercial production, fill and finish and we are now looking to bring new capabilities in fill and finish contract manufacturing into the country," said Yeoh.
"Looking forward, we now hope to generate S$25bn (€12bn) worth of pharma manufacturing revenue by 2015, and expect biologics manufacturing will be a significant contributor to this future output."
