Singapore:Layout 1 14/1/10 20:19 Page 83
Regional Focus
cosmopolitan with foreigners making up a quarter To date, A*STAR has awarded more than 500 bio-
of the population, and offers a range of dynamic medical sciences scholarships. More than 100
entertainment and recreation options. Since 2008, awardees have completed their PhDs and returned
Singapore has been hosting Formula One’s first to work in A*STAR research institutes and units.
night race during Singapore Grand Prix. In 2010, Complementing this pool of researchers is
two integrated resorts, which host a world-class Singapore’s annual cohort of more than 8,500 sci-
hotel, convention centre, entertainment facilities and ence and engineering graduates. Today, leading
a casino in one location, will officially open. These pharmaceutical and biotech companies train
resorts are developed by Las Vegas Sands and Singaporean graduates in their headquarters’ man-
Genting International. Singapore is also within a ufacturing site and hire more than 4,000 skilled
seven-hour flight radius from the region’s top tourist workers who are acquainted with the latest manu-
destinations (eg Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Bali in facturing technologies.
Indonesia, Hua Hin and Phuket in Thailand and
Shangri La in China). Driving expansion in Asia
Scientific leaders who have moved to Singapore Singapore’s global business excellence is a strong
to head the city-state’s research institutes, consor- factor that complements its R&D capabilities. This
tia and laboratories include: Edward Holmes (for- enables companies to expand their reach in Asia’s
mer Vice Chancellor, University of California, San markets, in addition to developing more effective
Diego), Judith Swain (University of California, San therapies for Asian patients.
Diego), Edison Liu (former director of clinical sci- Today, eight of the world’s top 10 pharmaceuti-
ences, National Cancer Institute, US), Neal cal companies have located regional headquarters
Copeland and Nancy Jenkins (National Cancer in Singapore to manage and drive their expansion
Institute, US), Sir George Radda (former Chief in the region. Most recently, in 2009 Takeda
Executive, Medical Research Council), Colin opened its regional headquarters in Singapore to
Blakemore (UK Medical Research Council), Axel drive its commercial growth and reach in Asia
Ulrich (Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Pacific; Quintiles also doubled the size of its Asia-
Germany), Philippe Kourilsky (College de France, Pacific headquarters to an 80,000 square-feet facil-
France), Sydney Brenner (Nobel Laureate, Salk ity to meet the region’s growing demand.
Institute of Biological Sciences) and Yoshiaki Ito Key advantages include:
(University of Kyoto, Japan).
In addition, leading pharmaceutical and biotech a71 World’s easiest place to do business (World
companies have teams with an international repre- Bank, 2009) – Singapore has established a strong
sentation in their Singapore corporate labs. The legal system and a stable political system that
Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases, for exam- prides itself on honesty, quality and reliability. At
ple, employs more than 100 researchers from 18 the same time, the city-state offers an international
nationalities. Singapore is now home to more than business environment with the world’s global
4,300 researchers from across the globe. industry leaders setting up business activities that
Furthermore, Singapore has launched the include headquarters, R&D and manufacturing.
A*STAR Investigatorship (A*I) award, which was Leveraging its world-class infrastructure and reli-
modelled on the prestigious Howard Hughes able public utilities, Singapore presents a trusted
Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigatorship award, location to manage companies’ business expansion
to attract bright young researchers to carry out while being attuned with global developments.
independent research in Singapore’s public-sector a71 Base of leading global professional services
research institutes. Bruno Reversade (France) and companies – Singapore is the world’s third lead-
Prabha Sampath (India) are the first recipients. In ing global financial centre (City of London, 2009)
September 2009, Reversade led a group of German and drawn top-notch professional services com-
and Singaporean scientists to publish their findings panies to Singapore. Today, nine of the top 10
in genetic mutation that led to premature skin age- international law firms and all of the top eight
ing in the prestigious Nature Genetics. human resource consulting firms have established
Singapore also recognises the need to nurture the their presence in Singapore. The world’s leading
next generation of scientists. Since 2001, third-party logistics service providers is also
Singapore’s Agency for Science, Research and based in Singapore; DHL and TNT have set up
Technology (A*STAR) has launched a national specialised life sciences facilities that offer cus-
scholarship programme that seeks to nurture 1,000 tomised supply chain solutions for pharmaceuti-
local PhD graduates in the world’s top universities. cal and biotech companies.
Drug Discovery World Winter 2009/10 83
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