GE Healthcare launches bioprocess training courses in Singapore
GE has partnered with Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Life Sciences and Chemical Technology to roll-out Fast Trak – which is a series of process design and development courses for professionals working in the biomanufacturing sector.
Spokeswoman Val Jones told Outsourcing-pharma.com that: “The aim is to pass on our scientists’ expertise to people working in the sector to help them with all aspects of process development, scale-up and manufacture.
“The courses are designed for process developers, manufacturing scientists, staff scientists, engineers, plant operators or support staff, to give training in process development, column packing, system control and membrane filtration to help maximize manufacturing capabilities and get products to market faster.”
Jones explained that GE, which runs similar courses in the US, China, Germany, India and Japan, chose to set up in Singapore in response to the growth of the country’s biomanufacturing sector and selected Ngee Ann as a partner based on its expertise in this type of specialised training..
The courses’ focus on GE technologies also serves the firm’s marketing activities as engineers trained on one particular system are likely to favour it for subsequent projects.
However, while Jones acknowledged that this is one motivation for GE she stressed that it also fits with the firm's wider strategy.
“It is part of an overall approach that takes us beyond being just the supplier of components and technologies,” she continued, adding that “we are proud of our expertise in protein processing and think that it can be of use to the wider industry.”
GE has sought to cement its position in the biomanufacturing sector in recent months, beginning in September when it announced its intention to invest $1bn (€754m) in the development of new technologies over the next five years.
Since then the firm has entered a cross licensing agreement with Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB), settled a long running dispute with Bio Rad over a molecular interaction monitoring technology and – in December – signed a turnkey biologics plant development pact with engineering group M+W.
