Singapore:Layout 1 14/1/10 20:19 Page 82
Regional Focus
in Series A financing; Cytos and Humalys’ collab- a71 Integration of public sector resources –
orations with Singapore Immunology Network to Leveraging its compact locality, Singapore’s public-
develop antibody-based therapies for infectious sector resources are connected via an integrated
diseases that are prevalent in the region. countrywide network that connects research insti-
The key capabilities and resources in Singapore tutes at the Biopolis with Academic Medical
which enable companies to accelerate drug discov- Centres, where public hospitals and medical insti-
ery and development in Asia are as follow: tutes that attend to 80% of Singapore’s patients
and Investigational Medicine Units are co-located
a71 Ability to establish key infrastructure and capa- with institutes of higher learning. This integration
bilities rapidly – Singapore has demonstrated its not only enables an efficient flow of knowledge
commitment to developing the sector by building up from the bench to the bedside; equally important-
key infrastructure and capabilities to facilitate inno- ly, it provides a platform for clinician-scientists to
vation as soon as the biomedical sciences initiative address hypotheses derived from the bedside.
was launched. Within the first three years of devel- a71 Growing base of supporting services –
opment, two million square feet of research space at Complementing Singapore’s strengths in early
the Biopolis was made available in an integrated innovation and translational research, the city-
campus that is designed to co-locate and promote state has also established a core base of 20 leading
collaborations among private-sector labs and contract research organisations and pharmaceuti-
research institutes. In the past five years, Singapore cal companies that manage regional clinical trials
has established Academic Medical Centres and from Singapore. Recent announcements in 2009
Investigational Medicine Units dedicated to early- include ICON’s expanded central lab, PPD’s new
phase trials to facilitate translational and clinical global central lab and Quintiles’ expansion of its
research. In addition, Singapore’s research institutes Asia-Pacific headquarters facility.
have established capabilities in core areas such as
bio-imaging, phenotyping of its pan-Asian patient Accessing global talents
base, cohort studies, as well as key diseases (eg can- As companies expand their research and business
cer, neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic diseases, activities into Asia, it will be imperative that their
infectious diseases and eye diseases). expansion site also draws top-notch talent from
a71 Public sector’s openness to partner companies – both their home-base as well as the rapidly grow-
Singapore’s network of 30 public-sector research ing Asian populations.
institutes, academic medical centres, medical insti- As a cosmopolitan society that remains rooted in
tutes and hospitals are open to partnering compa- Asian culture, Singapore’s high quality of life has
nies to develop new therapies and address unmet attracted the world’s top scientific and business tal-
healthcare needs. Leading companies such as ent, who find it easy to settle in Singapore.
AstraZeneca, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline and Lilly are Singapore provides an enticing environment for
collaborating with Singapore partners across drug professionals, and has been consistently ranked as
discovery and development activities. On average, Asia’s top city in terms of quality of life (Mercer HR;
more than 250 clinical trials are carried out in ECA International) and offers an excellent educa-
Singapore each year. tion system. The city-state is English-speaking,
82 Drug Discovery World Winter 2009/10
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