Minister Lim Hng Kiang at the Opening of Chugai Pharmabody Research

​SPEECH BY MR LIM HNG KIANG, MINISTER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY AT THE OPENING OF CHUGAI PHARMABODY RESEARCH ON FRIDAY, 13 JULY 2012, 2.10 PM, SYNAPSE AT BIOPOLIS

His Excellency Mr Yoichi Suzuki

Ambassador of Japan to Singapore

Mr Osamu Nagayama

Chairman and CEO, Chugai Pharmaceutical

Dr Franz Humer

Chairman, Roche

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A good afternoon to all of you. I am pleased to join you here today at the opening of Chugai Pharmabody Research, Singapore’s first corporate laboratory in the area of antibody engineering.

We are privileged that Chugai has chosen Singapore as the location to set up your new facility. The opening of Chugai Pharmabody Research marks an important milestone in Singapore’s efforts to encourage the R&D and manufacturing of biological products.

Singapore is committed to growing our biomedical sciences sector

In 2000, Singapore embarked on a journey to develop our biomedical sciences sector by creating Biopolis, a cluster of research institutes. We also started to lay the foundation of our basic sciences capabilities by training a pipeline of research talent. We went on to broaden our focus to include translational and clinical research. With the use of innovative approaches, we were able to translate clinical insights into ideas which could lead to a more productive and cost-effective drug discovery process.

Since then, we have yielded significant benefits from our efforts in this area. Employment in biomedical R&D has more than doubled from 2,200 to over 5,000 between year 2000 and 2010. Likewise, employment in biomedical manufacturing output went from 6,000 to 14,000 over the same period. In terms of biomedical manufacturing output, we have seen a four-fold increase from $6 billion to $23.3 billion.

Even as Singapore has done reasonably well on these fronts, we are committed to doing more to grow this industry. We are in this for the long term. Between year 2011 and 2015, we will invest $3.7 billion in biomedical sciences research. This is a 12 per cent increase from the preceding five years. Our investments will help pave the way for the biomedical research community in Singapore to engage meaningfully in industry-relevant research collaborations. In addition, it will enable them to stay at the forefront of science.

Singapore, a strong partner for pharmaceutical companies looking to improve R&D

On this note, we look forward to collaborate with pharmaceutical companies so that the potential of our local research institutes, as well as their diverse pool of talent can be maximised. Allow me to share more on each.

Partnerships with local research institutes

Opportunities abound for companies to work with our local research institutes such as the p53 laboratory and Singapore Immunology Network in the area of biologics R&D.  I am heartened to see a growing number of leading Japanese companies tapping on the capabilities that we offer. They have set up R&D laboratories at Biopolis and are working with our local research community to accelerate innovation. An excellent example will be Takeda, a leading pharmaceutical company in Japan. It is collaborating with the Singapore Bio-imaging Consortium (SBIC) to better evaluate the potential for novel drugs in the areas of neurology and metabolic diseases.

Roche is another company which has tapped on our strong base of research capabilities. After establishing its first “Hub for Translational Medicine” in Singapore, its scientists leveraged our research community and clinical infrastructure such as A*STAR, Duke-NUS, National University Hospital and National Healthcare Group to develop new personalised treatment approaches. These collaborations enabled Roche to conduct multidisciplinary studies and generate important insights in disease biology to accelerate the drug discovery and development process.

Access to diverse pool of research talent

Apart from research collaborations, Biopolis has brought together more than 1,000 scientists from over 60 different countries.

We have also with us a thriving community of local research scientists and engineers. As Singapore’s lead agency for fostering world-class scientific research and talent, A*STAR has been making great strides in grooming world-class scientific research and talent. Over the years, it has successfully nurtured a pipeline of close to 1,000 Singaporean PhDs.

With these efforts, companies can now tap on a rich and diverse pool of international and local R&D talent to take their ideas through to commercialisation.

Singapore, an ideal and trusted base to drive business expansion to regional and global markets

Beyond R&D, Singapore has established a strong track record for manufacturing high quality products for global markets.

We are seeing a growing number of biomedical sciences companies establishing their strategic home bases in Singapore to drive business expansion. By overseeing their growth plans in regional and even global markets from Singapore, these companies could leverage our excellent connectivity and understanding of the international markets. Hoya Surgical Optics, one of the world's largest manufacturers of intraocular lenses, is a good example. In a move to enhance its operational efficiency and to better serve the needs of the emerging markets in this region, it has shifted its global headquarters to Singapore early last year.

Singapore also serves as an ideal base for biomedical sciences companies to drive commercial business growth in Asia. We have seen companies like Takeda and Terumo establishing their operations here to seize the growth opportunities in this part of the region.

Conclusion

Following Chugai’s first research centre

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in Singapore, Chugai Pharmabody Research will build on Chugai’s existing R&D success by focusing on antibody research. In this regard, I am heartened to note that Chugai will be investing close to S$200 million over the next five years to developing and making innovative drugs at the facility to serve unmet medical needs.

We therefore welcome Chugai Pharmabody Research to form new partnerships within the clinical and research community here and leverage our diverse R&D talent, capabilities and expertise to translate research into quality healthcare solutions.

I wish the management and staff of Chugai Pharmabody Research every success with your new facility. Thank you.

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