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Jan 10, 2009 Vaccine research gets $2m boost Everyone wants in on the hot new area in the biomedical sciences sector, called the biologics industry - government research agencies, big drug companies as well as small private ones. The Straits Times checks out the scene. By Liaw Wy-Cin VACCINE-MAKER GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK Bio) is pumping $2 million into research here that will create better vaccines using living cells. It is working with Singapore's Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) on the effort, which aims to improve on vaccines it makes for the brain and spinal cord disease meningitis as well as for infection caused by the salmonella bacteria. Belgium-based GSK Bio's manufacturing plant in Tuas is slated to open next year, said the plant's site director Vincent Hingot. It will deal in biologics, a wide range of products such as vaccines and blood products isolated from natural sources such as animal tissue and cells, rather than synthesised from chemicals. While it is now commonplace for global biomedical companies to operate manufacturing plants in Singapore, attracting them to partner local R&D outfits here is still a bit of a coup. The partnership with GSK Bio attests to the 18 years of hard work put in by BTI, Singapore's lead group in biologics R&D, said its executive director, Ms Miranda Yap. GSK Bio's senior vice-president of R&D Jean-Paul Prieels said in a press statement: 'We are very pleased to be working with BTI. Their expertise on bioprocessing technologies made it a good choice as a partner in conducting cutting-edge vaccine development research. 'This complements our R&D based-approach in vaccine development and manufacturing.' The director of the Economic Development Board's biomedical sciences division, Mr Beh Kian Teik, called the partnership a good case study that will have direct impact on health-care issues. Vaccines have to be produced using biological components and are a big part of the biologics industry, worth about US$70 billion (S$103 billion) globally and growing at 10 to 15 per cent a year. GSK Bio is one of the world's top three vaccine-producing companies, commanding a 22 per cent share of the global market in 2007, which is estimated to be worth US$22 billion, and is set to hit US$36 billion by 2013. The plant here will produce all the company's vaccines made in one of four ways - from polysaccharides, a type of carbohydrate. The two-year R&D partnership involves three projects. One is to find out more about GSK Bio's adjuvants, which are added to vaccines to give them added punch, and two are on how to improve GSK Bio's vaccine production. wycin@sph.com.sg Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement & Condition of Access -------- Jan 10, 2009 NEWS ANALYSIS S'pore set to tap biologics industry Five plants worth US$1.5b for four drug-makers setting up operations here By Liaw Wy-Cin WHEN biotechnology bigwig Genentech said 'yes' in 2007 to building a drug-making plant here, it was the sweet fruit of 17 years of hard work by various government agencies to found a new industry of drug-making. This new industry of biologics, in which drugs are made from biological components instead of synthesised chemicals, is seen as the next big thing in drug manufacturing. It could be a lifeline for drug companies watching profits slide as patents on older drugs expire. With Genentech's plant in Tuas starting operations last month, and another four opening in the next three years, Singapore is all set to tap an industry worth US$70 billion (S$103 billion) globally. Drug companies traditionally grew their bottom lines through chemically synthesised drugs such as aspirin. But there was a limit to this method - scientists could not build very complicated drug molecules, so they turned instead to using live organisms, which could yield larger molecules. Scientists say the new generation of drugs, comprising biological components such as proteins, genes and cells, are expected to be more compatible with the human body. Biologics are also more targeted in how they behave, and should work better and have fewer side effects. Insulin, the treatment for diabetes, is one example of a biologic; it is also a hormone. Vaccines are also biologics, as well as the new generation of cancer drugs. Drug companies hope that biologics will herald a new generation of blockbuster drugs to reverse the slide in the sales of older drugs, which have lost ground as their patent protection expired. Drug development companies such as Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Schering-Plough have a monopoly on proprietary drugs for about 20 years. But once patents expire, the playing field is wide open. While it is easy to produce cheaper generic versions of chemical drugs, it is harder to copy biologics, which are made of larger and more complex molecules. Dr Patrick Yang, Genentech's executive vice-president of product operations, said: 'There is something about the way proteins are folded, we don't know what they do when they interact, and it is less easy to predict what they do. When you try to make copycat versions of them, they may give very unexpected results.' While the biologics industry here is still in its infancy, economists expect it to give the biomedical sector, which has been growing an average of 14 per cent a year since 2000, a boost over the next five years. Barclays Capital economist Leong Wai Ho said the highly specialised nature of biologic treatments means that companies will do more than just manufacturing here, as they would have to do research to formulate and customise drugs. The biologics industry is growing at a rate of 10 to 15 per cent a year, compared to 1 per cent for the pharmaceutical industry as a whole. By next year, analysts expect sales of biologic products to make up 60 per cent of the sales growth of drugs. The director of the Economic Development Board's (EDB) biomedical sciences arm, Mr Beh Kian Teik, said biologics manufacturing complements the more traditional pharmaceutical manufacturing activities here. Many large pharmaceutical companies, which made their billions through the old way of synthesising drugs, are now eyeing biotech companies of various sizes to shore up their bottom lines. Roche, for example, is looking to buy Genentech for US$43.7 billion. And Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical company, wants to add more drug candidates to its pipeline, which dries up by 2011. Said Mr Beh: 'It would be a natural progression for pharmaceutical companies with existing operations in Singapore to also consider setting up biologics manufacturing facilities here.' GSK and Novartis are the only companies currently with both traditional pharmaceutical and biologics operations here. The four companies setting up biologics operations here are looking at five projects worth a total of US$1.5 billion in investment. As a whole, employment for biopharmaceutical manufacturing is expected to increase by 50 per cent to 6,000 over the next three years, according to the EDB. So far, 11 of the world's leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies are represented in Singapore. But smaller local companies such as vaccine developer SingVax and SG Austria, which is developing cancer treatment using genetically modified cells, are also entering the biologics space. Singapore's own foray into biologics began in 1990, when the Bioprocessing Technology Unit (BTU) was set up under the EDB's Biotechnology Competence Enhancement Programme. It was renamed the Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI), under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, and is the nerve centre of biologics research and development here. BTI is helping GSK Biologicals make better vaccines. Said Mr Leong of this partnership: 'The first big success for Singapore's biomed sector was probably growing pharma to a critical mass in a relatively short span of time. 'This latest milestone marks the ability to extend into the biologics space, which is more specialised and potentially even more rewarding.' For BTI's director, Professor Miranda Yap, the years of growing the biologics industry here has finally borne fruit. She said: 'Finally, after all the hard work, we have managed to court the big biologics manufacturers here. And now we have even shown that we can also do cutting-edge research work, good enough to interest the big drug companies.' Genentech's presence here is likely to raise Singapore's standing in the biologics industry. The United States-based company is widely considered the pioneer of biotech. It produced the world's first and one of the most successful biologic anti-cancer drugs, made from antibodies - Herceptin. Other big players in the drug-making business are setting up their own biologics divisions, and are sure to watch the progress of the five plants here. Still, there will be a place for small molecule drugs made the old-fashioned way. Dr Yang told The Straits Times that in 10 years, 20 to 30 per cent of Genentech's products will still be small-molecule ones. GSK Bio's plant here, which will start operations next year, is a test bed. The plant's site director, Mr Vincent Hingot, said: 'We have to prove that we can produce good-quality vaccines here, then we will be given the chance to produce even more vaccines by the company. We are hoping to find the synergy between the chemical synthesis and the biotech processes, to justify another investment here.' It is the same for Singapore. If the five plants are successful, more will want to come, especially if the GSK Bio-BTI research partnership also bears fruit. wycin@sph.com.sg Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement & Condition of Access |