As Asia today grapples with an ageing population and increasing consumer affluence and sophistication, BMS research and development (R&D) remains a priority in Singapore's long-term strategy to boost its economic competitiveness, achieve sustained growth and position the country as Asia's innovation capital.

The fund, to be invested in BMS R&D from 2011 to 2015, will be used to strengthen BMS research capabilities by improving the integration of research performers, both public and private, across the BMS landscape. This will further boost Singapore's standing as a key location for R&D in the region, in addition to its strategic location as the gateway to Asia and its robust infrastructure and industry capabilities.

Forming Seamless Partnerships

To cement Singapore's role as a world-class BMS hub, the BMS Industry Partnership Office (IPO) was set up in 2010. The BMS IPO is a multi-agency office that includes the National Medical Research Council (NMRC), Ministry of Health (MOH), the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). This makes it an effective one-stop shop for BMS companies seeking to engage multiple Singapore agencies in research collaborations. These Singapore agencies, with their spectrum of capabilities that spans the entire value chain of basic BMS research and translational and clinical research, include research institutes under A*STAR, hospitals and universities.

“The BMS IPO will generate enormous value for the industry as it seeks to seamlessly facilitate research collaborations between an industry player and multiple public sector research performers in Singapore,” said Lim Chuan Poh, Chairman, A*STAR, who added, “It also enables the public-private partnership to focus on what is important, namely, the research work and the smooth translation of that into novel and impactful healthcare solutions for Singapore and the wider Asian market beyond.”

The effects of this endeavour can already be seen as several partnerships between public research performers and global corporations were formed last year. Some notable developments include:

Bayer

Bayer HealthCare Singapore, subsidiary of Germany's Bayer AG, announced in December 2010 that it will invest an additional S$14.5 million (US$11.3 million) to enhance its expertise in R&D activities in the city-state to improve early diagnosis and treatment outcomes of cancer patients. Partnering with the National University of Singapore (NUS), National University Health System (NUHS), SingHealth and A*STAR's Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (SBIC), Bayer HealthCare will launch five projects to investigate novel approaches in cancer treatments.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

In October 2010, GSK announced the first four projects funded under the newly-established Academic Centre of Excellence (ACE) — a virtual community that promotes partnership between academics in Singapore and GSK's global Discovery Performance Units on early-stage drug discovery projects. The four projects will focus on areas such as ophthalmology, regenerative medicine and neuro-degeneration; and will also involve identifying new bio-markers, new model systems and elucidating mechanisms of action around innovative medicines.

Roche

In January 2010, Roche announced that it will be investing 100 million Swiss francs (S$130 million) over five years to establish a Roche-Singapore Hub for Translational Medicine in Singapore – Roche's first strategic translational and clinical research site in the world. The hub aims to enhance the understanding of how scientific advances from preclinical research can be transferred in practice to patients. The hub will bring together expertise from Singapore's scientific and medical institutions with Roche's significant capability in translational medicine and clinical development.

Grooming Talent for Asia's Innovators

Another area which Singapore is focusing on in order to fortify its BMS capabilities further is in grooming talent and generating more skilled Medical Device Innovators who can develop effective devices for Asia's clinical needs. As a leading medical technology (medtech) site, Singapore aims to establish a strong talent base to meet the needs of companies looking to innovate and grow in Asia. This will allow both country and company to tap into Asia's expanding healthcare markets by developing innovative and novel products tailored to meet the region's healthcare needs.

Medical device innovation is a multidisciplinary process which requires globally oriented talent attuned to the region's healthcare needs. To ensure that innovators are equipped with the relevant expertise, Singapore collaborates with prestigious institutions such as Stanford University and dominant global industry players like Medtronic to set up training programmes.

One such programme is the Singapore Medtech Innovate, Design, Engineer for Asia in Singapore (IDEAS) programme, launched by EDB. Medtronic, a leader in the world of medtech, was the first company to join the programme in October 2010. Medtronic aims to establish a training programme in Singapore that will provide business and technical professionals the necessary skills to assess and consider the unmet clinical needs of patients, as well as design, develop and manufacture medical devices. Participating professionals will also be sent on an exposure trip to Medtronic's Minneapolis research facility.

Another programme was launched in January 2010 when the Stanford University Biodesign Program partnered with A*STAR and EDB to establish a training programme called Singapore-Stanford Biodesign (SSB). This aims to train the next generation of Asian leaders who can develop innovative medical devices to address Asia's healthcare needs. It would provide a fellowship for four Asian representatives to go to Stanford for six months of training in the Biodesign process. Another six months will be spent in Singapore, with at least a month in hospitals and clinics to obtain first-hand experience in determining different clinical needs. It was announced in December last year that a team of doctors and engineers have been selected for the programme.

With these initiatives in place, Singapore is set to pave the way for its BMS research community to engage meaningfully in research collaborations with industry. This will thus enable Singapore to create strategic growth opportunities, especially those available in the Asian markets.