Speech by Minister S Iswaran at the SingHealth-A*STAR Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony

SPEECH BY MR S ISWARAN, MINISTER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY (INDUSTRY), AT THE SINGHEALTH - A*STAR MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING SIGNING CEREMONY ON 8 DECEMBER 2017, 10.15AM AT ACADEMIA, SINGAPORE GENERAL HOSPITAL CAMPUS 

Mr Peter Seah, Chairman, SingHealth

Mr Lim Chuan Poh, Chairman, A*STAR 

Professor Ivy Ng, Group CEO, SingHealth  

Professor Thomas Coffman, Dean, Duke-NUS Medical School 

Distinguished Guests, 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Introduction 

1. A very good morning. It gives me great pleasure to join you today to witness the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between SingHealth and A*STAR.  

Singapore has invested in Biomedical Sciences (BMS) since the early 2000s. Our investments in the sector have helped to build a strong pool of talent, world class research infrastructure, and a network of collaborations between researchers, clinicians and private sector.

2. Singapore commenced our R&D journey in Biomedical Sciences (BMS) in the early 2000s. The decision to invest in BMS was informed by the potential long-term economic and healthcare benefits to Singaporeans. 

3. We have come a long way since then. BMS is an important pillar of our economy today, contributing about 4% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Our investments in the sector have helped build a strong pool of talent, world class research infrastructure, and a network of collaborations between researchers, clinicians and private sector. Of the 35,000 Research Scientists and Engineers in Singapore in 2015, over 7,100 (20.5%) are in the Biomedical and Related Sciences field. Singapore is now home to over 50 BMS manufacturing plants with a combined output of more than S$30 billion and employing over 20,000 employees. More than 30 leading BMS companies, such as GSK, MSD, Roche, and Takeda, have located their regional headquarters on our shores. Over the past 5 years, collaborations among the public research agencies and private sector BMS players have increased in both scale and depth.  

In the next phase, we want to draw on these strengths to find solutions for local and global healthcare challenges, and create value for our economy. The MOU between SingHealth and A*STAR will boost that effort by combining the strengths of both.

4. Looking ahead, we want to draw on these strengths and reservoir of talent to find solutions for local and global healthcare challenges, and to create value for our economy. Under the 5-year Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 plan (RIE2020), S$4 billion has been committed to the Health and Biomedical Sciences (HBMS) domain, to further develop our health and biomedical ecosystem and translate our research to improving health outcomes. This includes greater emphasis on health services research to reduce the cost and enhance the efficiency of healthcare delivery.  

5. Our efforts will build upon the strong partnerships that have been forged within the local R&D community. These partnerships have enabled us to optimise our limited resources, harness synergies and deliver better research outcomes for the benefit of Singaporeans and our economy.  

I) A History of Successful Collaborations 

6. The partnership between SingHealth and A*STAR is a prime example. Both organisations share a history of close collaboration, with multiple joint programmes, laboratories, and projects focusing on important disease areas that are prevalent in Asian populations, and which carry a heavy economic burden.  

7. One example of a successful SingHealth-A*STAR collaboration is in the area of cardiovascular diseases, which accounts for roughly 30% of all deaths in Singapore.  The Asian Network for Translational Research and Cardiovascular Trials (ATTRaCT) is a programme dedicated to deepening our understanding of cardiovascular disease progression in heart failure, especially in Asian populations. It brings together leading cardiologists and heart disease researchers from SingHealth, A*STAR and other external partners.  

8. To date, ATTRaCT has launched six clinical trials, and has engaged in joint R&D with global pharmaceutical leaders, like AstraZeneca and Bayer Healthcare, generating over S$13 million in industry R&D spending.  A team led by Associate Professor Roger Foo, from A*STAR’s Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), also discovered a new RNA molecule that prevents the heart from regenerating and self-healing. The discovery of this molecule, named “Singheart”, has important implications for the treatment of heart failure.  

9. In the area of cancer research, A*STAR and SingHealth are also collaborating to identify new drug targets for advanced kidney cancer, one of the top ten causes of cancer deaths in Singapore. The team, led by Professor Patrick Tan from A*STAR’s Biomedical Research Council, and Professor Teh Bin Tean from the National Cancer Centre Singapore, have discovered how certain mutations in kidney cancer activate “control switches”, which encourage the production of cancer genes and promote tumour growth. The team has since built up a comprehensive catalogue of kidney cancer “control switches”, and plans to work with local drug development players to design drugs that can turn off these “switches”, and potentially halt the progression of the cancer.  

II) New Milestone in Relationship: Combining Resources and Talent 

10. The MOU that will be signed today builds on these successful collaborations, and marks a new milestone in the path towards a more integrated and forward-looking partnership between SingHealth and A*STAR. The scientific and technical capabilities of A*STAR’s eighteen research institutes will complement SingHealth’s extensive healthcare expertise and resources, to enable seamless transition of cutting-edge healthcare discoveries and applications from bench to bedside. 

11. The collaboration will also leverage a combined talent of over 4,500 A*STAR researchers, engineers, technical support staff, as well as about 20,000 doctors, nurses and allied health professionals at SingHealth. This also includes a pool of around 400 clinician-scientists and clinician-investigators adept at both science and medicine. They will help bridge the gap between upstream research discovery and downstream clinical application.  

The MOU focuses on three key areas that will redefine medicine and healthcare as it is delivered today, and generate economic value capture from our BMS investments: (i) harnessing big data in precision medicine; (ii) utilising smart health in a diabetes clinic of the future; and (iii) innovation in immunotherapy and drug development.

12. This MOU focuses on three key areas that will redefine medicine and healthcare as they are practised and delivered today, and generate significant economic value from our BMS investments. 

I) Harnessing Big Data in Precision Medicine 

13. First, A*STAR and SingHealth will focus on harnessing big data in precision medicine.  Precision medicine entails the use of detailed patient phenotyping, such as genome sequencing, to provide more accurate diagnoses and targeted treatment options for patients, as well as more precise forecasting of disease progression and disease risk prediction.  

14. Effective implementation of any precision medicine initiative requires the ability to consolidate and analyse the exponentially growing volume of patient data that is available to the medical practitioner. The MOU will bring together A*STAR’s bioinformatics and computational capabilities, and SingHealth’s clinical expertise, to integrate data from various databanks into a central database for analysis and subsequent precision medicine application.  

15. A*STAR’s Bioinformatics Institute (BII) and the SingHealth Duke-NUS Institute of Precision Medicine (PRISM) have already begun integrating cardiovascular and cancer data into a central database, with a BII satellite office embedded in SingHealth’s SGH campus for closer cooperation. The consolidated data will in turn be harnessed by researchers from both organisations for joint projects and leverage data-driven genomics for more precise diagnoses and treatments. 

II) Utilising Smart Technologies in the Diabetes Clinic of the Future 

16. Second, the MOU will utilise smart technologies in a Diabetes Clinic of the Future.  Diabetes is a serious healthcare problem, with one in three Singaporeans at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in their lifetime. Beyond the serious health repercussions, diabetes also poses a high economic burden. A study undertaken by researchers in 2015 projected that the total economic cost from diabetes in Singapore, including productivity loss, would more than double from US$787 million in 2010 to US$1.87 billion in 2050.  

17. A*STAR and SingHealth will jointly adopt a Smart Health approach towards diabetes diagnosis, treatment and management, by combining crucial patient data and clinical expertise from SingHealth, and medical technology, electronics and imaging capabilities from A*STAR. The Diabetes Clinic of the Future will eventually be housed within SingHealth’s existing Diabetes and Metabolism Centre (DMC), located at SGH.  This clinic will work on data analytics and medical technology, such as mobile apps, wearable sensors, remote monitoring solutions and high-precision robotic tools, to better predict, track, and manage diabetes. This will not only improve diabetes care for patients, but also provide a sandbox environment for tech developers and other industry partners to trial their innovations, and support Singapore’s war on diabetes. 

III) Innovations in Immunotherapy and Drug Development 

18. Third, the MOU will spur further innovation in immunotherapy and drug development, an important step in ensuring that our BMS R&D ecosystem remains globally relevant and competitive.  To facilitate closer collaboration between our research institutes, clinicians, and biotech companies in undertaking drug discovery and development work, we have established national drug development platforms, such as A*STAR’s Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC) for small-molecule drugs, and the upcoming Experimental Biotherapeutics Centre (EBC) for large-molecule drugs. To date, ETC and Duke-NUS Medical School have two publicly-funded cancer drug candidates in clinical trials. 

19. Moving forward, we will build on these efforts to further accelerate the drug development process, and develop a pipeline of ground-breaking treatments for critical disease areas like cancer and cardiovascular diseases, which have been identified as key therapeutic focus areas under the RIE2020 HBMS Strategy.  New national drug development initiatives, such as a joint SingHealth-A*STAR immunotherapy platform, will harness the latest innovations in immunotherapy and work with local immunotherapy biotech companies, further bolstering our local biotech ecosystem.  

20. Today, we are also seeing the launch of the Viral Research and Experimental Medicine Centre (ViReMiCS) at SingHealth Duke-NUS – a new academic research facility aimed at accelerating the development of drugs and vaccines for infectious diseases, which will allow us to respond more effectively to infectious diseases outbreaks.  With the launch of ViReMiCS, I am happy to note that the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre will be able to work more closely with industry partners, including the pharmaceutical and vaccine industries. 

CONCLUSION

21. The rich network of collaborations across our R&D ecosystem has enabled us to harness the strengths of individual agencies and organisations, and set the stage for impactful societal outcomes. I commend A*STAR and SingHealth for taking the lead in forging a more collaborative BMS research ecosystem with the signing of this MOU, and look forward to significant healthcare and economic outcomes from this enhanced partnership between the two organisations. 

22. I wish A*STAR and SingHealth much success in this important endeavour which has much potential to enhance the lives of our people and strengthen our economy. 

23. Thank you.