GSK recently opened a US$13 million medicinal chemistry laboratory which will build on its existing pre-clinical research center focused on neurodegenerative diseases. At steady state, the center will house over 60 scientists. GSK hopes to have a Singapore developed drug candidate in their R&D pipeline by the end of this year.
Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD) focused initially on advanced biomedical research on dengue and tuberculosis. It has discovered one compound to target multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. NITD recently expanded its research program to include malaria. This new addition is jointly supported by Novartis, the Medicines for Malaria Ventures and Singapore Economic Development Board.
Starting from a virtually zero base in 2000, Singapore has attracted the R&D operations of more than 25 companies to-date. International pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, promising local start-ups and contract research service providers co-exist and collaborate with each other as well as with seven public R&D institutions at Singapore's Biopolis, a purpose-built campus for biomedical sciences (BMS) research. The ability to leverage on a critical mass of scientific activities to forge private-public partnerships is a unique feature of the Biopolis.
Recent significant discoveries by the tenants include.
1. Homegrown ES Cell International (ESI) scored a world's first by creating human embryonic stem cells designed for clinical use. Previous stem cells were developed using mouse feeder cells and may trigger immune attacks.ESI's subsidiary was awarded US$660,000 by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research to fund research on the use of embryonic stem cells for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
2. Local company S-Bio's lead candidate for cancer, SB939, entered clinical trials in U.S. and Singapore. In preclinical studies, SB939 demonstrated excellent anti-cancer efficacy. SB939 has the potential to be used as an oral therapy for a variety of human hematological malignancies and solid tumors.
3. The Genome Institute of Singapore discovered a gene that allows doctors to better predict the clinical course of breast cancer, thus enabling them to prescribe more appropriate and beneficial therapies. The gene can accurately distinguish between low and high grade tumors, and divide them into subtypes to assess the risk of recurrence and profile survival outcomes.
4. The Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology designed nano particles that can carry small molecular anticancer drugs and nucleic acids simultaneously to reduce the side effects of anticancer drugs and treat cancer more effectively.
"The co-existence of private and public research laboratories, supported by state-of-the-art infrastructure and world-class scientific equipment, encourage the synergy of scientific ideas and facilitate cross-disciplinary collaborative research at the Biopolis," said Mr. Yeoh Keat Chuan, Executive Director, Biomedical Sciences Group, Singapore Economic Development Board. "We are now well positioned to accelerate the next phase of Singapore's biomedical sciences initiative on translational research, to take discoveries from bench to bedside and back."
BIOPOLIS SHARED SCIENTIFIC FACILITIES
A critical mass of private companies and public R&D institutions are quickly taking advantage of the shared facilities at the Biopolis, Singapore's 2.4 million square feet purpose-built BMS research complex. They can access up-to-date scientific infrastructure and specialized services without costly capital investments. Some of these shared facilities include:
1. A high-content screening facility to analyze the effects of drug entities on cells,
2. An automated protein crystallization platform with in-house x-ray crystallography capability,
3. A laboratory to provide routine and ultra-high speed confocal microscope imaging solutions,
4. A microarray center to provide resources for printed and commercially-produced chips, and
5. A facility with pathogen free research animals.
"The facilities at the Biopolis help researchers achieve a quick and timely start-up," said Prof. Ren Ee Chee, Director, Biopolis Shared Facilities. "As a result, demand has been very strong from companies such as ES Cell International, Takeda Singapore, CombinatoRx and others."
New equipment to enhance content screen confocal microscopy, to complete the range of flow cytometry for stem cell research and to complete the range of microarray for genome typing, will also be added to supplement the research services available.
