BIO 2004: Call for closer Singapore-Australia biotech ties

The Singapore and Australian biotechnology industries have synergies that should be exploited, the director of the Singapore Economic Development Board, Dr Swan-Gin Beh, has told a session at the BIO 2004 conference in San Francisco this week.

"Australia has good science, a good pool of trained people, and the Australian Stock Exchange is a mature base for biotechnology," Beh said. "Singapore offers access to many multinational companies."

He said state-of-the-art facilities at Singapore's Biopolis R&D precinct were attracting many companies to set up there, from emerging biotech companies to big pharma, including Eli Lilly and Novartis. Among the companies in Singapore are a number with Australian links, including ES Cell International, which also has a base in Australia; Cygenics, which is soon to list on the ASX; and Rockeby Biomed, which has facilities in Perth and Singapore.

"We'd encourage Australian companies to look at Singapore to expand their base," Beh said. "And Singaporean companies will also have to look overseas -- for access to capital, to markets and to people."

Mark Carlton, the CEO of British functional genomics company Paradigm Therapeutics, which has recently opened a subsidiary in Singapore's Biopolis, said that several reasons led the company to choose Singapore as its second location, including the availability of skilled researchers, the facilities and the opportunities for collaborations with other local companies and academic groups. In addition, the strong support of the industry by Singapore's government was an attraction.

"One of the key messages about what's going on in Singapore is the push to make biomedical science part of the economy," Carlton said. "There's a feeling of a very strong commitment to the biotechnology sector.

"It's also a great springboard for Asian business development locally in the region and in Japan."

Beh said Singapore and Australia should take the opportunity to form close links. "Ultimately, both countries should pool their resources to create world class champions," he said. "It's really about how we can complement each other."