Singapore has taken a plunge into biomedicine with investments of up to $2 billion dollars in domestic and foreign companies doing biomedical research. The Economic Development Board has invested another $1 billion into local start-ups and international joint ventures with the objective of turning Singapore into a centre of biomedical innovation. Meanwhile, several million dollars has been spent to build state-of-the-art research facilities like the new Genome Institute of Singapore and the Biopolis. Will life sciences be the next big thing here, asks SHAWNA TANG?

By Shawna Tang

In a brightly fluorescent-lit room in one of Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s biotechnology laboratories, white-coated students mill around machines, some observing the instruments with intense concentration, others taking periodic records of the vast amounts of information.

Results from laboratory experiments sometimes take several days. “We spend a lot of our time working on experiments but it doesn’t always yield results,” says third-year Biotechnology student, Terry Wong.

“Everyday we sit here to wait and watch,” another student, Jeannie Choo, tries to describe her course work. “We stay in an air-conditioned room, wear white everyday and are engrossed with our own experiments. Sometimes I fear we may lose our social skills,” she jokes.

Despite the unexceptional observations of their academic endeavors in biotechnology, these students know they have stepped into the country’s most exciting industry.

THE BUSINESS

Pharmaceutical discovery and biomedicine research, the business of life sciences and chemical technology, is the city-state’s latest economic escapade. Since the late 1990s, the state has invested billions in the biomedicine business. On paper, it may seem an impulsive investment since Singapore has little tradition in academic research in biomedicine and less than a few private investors schooled in the risks of biotechnology as compared to the more advanced centres of Europe and America.

But when it comes to industry-creation, Singapore has always defied economic conventions. With no markets, resources and most forms of raw materials, the state has managed to build industry after industry along the value-chain: from low-cost manufacturing in the early years to the latest in high technology and knowledge-based sectors.

Consider how the country transformed what Philip Yeo, head of government life sciences agency, A*Star, calls, its “lousy business” of crude oil refinery into a high end business of producing petrochemicals, specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals and high tech materials. When faced with the problem of limited land space needed for the massive business operations, Singapore’s solution was to spend $6 billion to build a 3200 hectare world-class chemical hub on Jurong Island. In 2003, the third largest petrochemical complex in the world produced about $36 billion-worth of goods.

Much of the growth in manufacturing numbers is fuelled by the export of pharmaceuticals. In just under ten years, the state has become one of the world’s leading pill producers. Biomedicine seems to be the new cure for a lackluster economy since it was hard-hit by the 2003 SARS epidemic.

Moving forward, the city-state wants to drive its biomedical business upstream from merely making drugs into research and innovation. Strong intellectual property laws, an educated workforce, proper physical infrastructure, easy access to the immense opportunities in Asia where ironically, liberal bioethical frameworks offer the intellectual freedom scientists cannot find in the West - all help position Singapore as a very pro-innovation place.

The new state-of-the-art Biopolis, a research institute specialising in genomics, nanotech among other cutting-edge technologies, is symbolic of how serious the government is taking this biomedicine business. Biopolis also boasts of impressive research facilities for large drug companies and biotech R&D. So far, global pharmaceutical powerhouses like Novartis and Eli Lily have moved into Biopolis’ spanking new buildings.

At present, the life sciences and chemical technology is the second largest industry in Singapore’s manufacturing sector. It is poised to increase its GDP contribution from $33 billion in 2000 to $45 billion in 2010, a significant 30 per cent of total manufacturing output. Little wonder then, the national efforts to push and pursue economic evolution in this new frontier.

LIFE SCIENCES EXODUS

Biomedical students interviewed from Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Life Sciences and Chemical Technology say they saw a commercial revolution taking place and quickly hopped on the bandwagon.

“We know it’s the future of Singapore. The prospects are good. We were told in schools, advertisements and learnt from newspapers that Singapore is going to be the life sciences hub in Asia,” say the students.

One student pointed out rather matter-of-factly, “The industry is never going to die because medicine is always needed with new illnesses coming up now and then.” The niche position of first-world facilities and proximity to poor-world afflictions such as malaria and dengue makes Singapore an ideal base camp for research into diseases.

Where before, most young Singaporeans would aspire to become engineers rather than biomedical scientists, it is now all changing. With glitzy advertising campaigns and generous scholarship programmes, the state is now engineering an exodus of the country’s brightest students into the study of life sciences.

Koh Xiaoying, 22, did not know what to do after graduating from Raffles Junior College, but an initial interest in biomedical sciences and the financial incentive of taking up a $900,000 scholarship from A*Star, led her to research and development in biomedicine.

“It’s an exciting time to be here as the biomedical sciences are given a clear push forward. The commitment and focus is very apparent,” she told the Straits Times, “I see great change and advancement in the sector and I want to be a part of this.”

The entire local school curriculum is being revamped from early education onwards to include the life sciences, with a strong emphasis on relevance and quality.

“Primary school children are learning the equivalent of what we learn here at the polytechnic,” shares Jeannie Choo, a graduating Biotechnology student. “When I was attached to NIE (National Institute of Education), the primary school teachers were asking us for contacts to buy lab equipment that we use at tertiary levels to teach the children.”

CAREER PATHWAYS

The target is to create 1000 PhD-qualified researchers from Singapore. The life sciences is a highly academic discipline. “There is a lot of studying involved if you want to be in a position to invent stuff,” says student Dennis Low, 20, “And that is when the job becomes exciting.”

A number of biotechnology students are involved in cancer and regenerative medicine research in their coursework. One student explains in detailed technical terms how his project involves researching into chemo-resistant cancer cells. Another student shares how her project work involves generating antibodies to fight against certain diseases. “If successfully done, maybe we can save peoples’ lives,” they say.

For individual students in biomedicine, is academia and research the only route? Many graduates from the field find themselves working in R&D laboratories in research institutions. Others work as laboratory technologists in pharmaceutical, food or chemical companies. But beyond lab-work, other jobs include assistant engineers in environmental consultancies and sales personnel for companies selling biological or laboratory products.

“It’s easier for us to do sales because we are familiar with all the life sciences consumables, chemicals, new products and equipment, market samples and new machines that we’ve been exposed to in school. We’ll understand what the customers want,” says Grace, who is keen in the sales aspect of her biotechnology training.

Ian Tang, 26, a Biotechnology graduate, made his way to a medical science degree from Queensland University of Technology, one of two institutions in Australia approved by the Singapore Medical Council. Scoring As and Bs from his diploma programme at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Ian had to pass a six-hour entrance exam before he was offered a place. His biotechnology training also gave him advanced standings with the university and he took only a year to complete his degree in medicine. Today, Ian works at the National University Hospital as a full-fledged doctor.

THE NEW FRONTIER

Those at the forefront of Singapore’s life sciences revolution are working hard to attract the best in the biomedicine business. Foreign talents, including leading researchers, scientists and a handful of Nobel laureates have been recruited to help kickstart the local biomedical sector. Among them is Edison Liu, a former top-ranking figure in America’s National Cancer Institute.

Learning wisely from the early experience of biotech in the West, Singapore knows that its emerging industry needs people with the scientific know-hows combined with good business acumen. Can the country with its agenda of long term planning, state investments, solid infrastructure and lengthy corporate tax breaks continue to attract an influx of companies and talents to keep pushing the frontier?