The Next Lap: Biosciences in Singapore 2025

An EIU Healthcare white paperfor BioSingapore

October 2015

Contents

Foreword 3

Acknowledgements 4

Executive summary 5

Looking back: Recap of bioscience sector development, 2000–2015 6

Regional cluster comparison: Singapore, Israel, Taiwan, South Korea 6

New growth centres: Expand access to emerging markets 8

Focus areas for investment: Maximize relevance and return 9

Accelerated commercialisation: Range of routes to market 10

Next-generation talent: Commercial and convergence skills 13

Conclusion: The next ten years 14

About Clearstate 15

The Next Lap: Biosciences in Singapore 2025 2

Foreword

Simranjit SinghExecutive Council, BioSingaporeGeneral Manager, Medical Devices Asia, Quintiles

2015 marks a milestone year for Singapore as the nation commemorates its 50th year of independence. It is also a landmark year for BioSingapore, an association for the Biosciences industry in Singapore, as we celebrate our 10th anniversary. In 2000, the Singapore government launched its 15-year roadmap to develop and promote the biosciences industry. This roadmap is now coming to its tail end and therefore it is imperative for us to review and evaluate the achievements & challenges encountered in the development of the Biosciences industry in Singapore. It also provides an opportunity for us to come together as an industry to help shape policy to further drive success in the biosciences industry for the next ten years.

This white paper has elicited views from a broad group of industry participants about the future of the Biosciences industry in Singapore. It provides themes that can help to guide the development of innovative ideas to propel the next lap of Biosciences growth in Singapore. We thank all participants for their time and support for the white paper. We hope this whitepaper will act as a catalyst for greater engagement and dialogue and spur more companies & individuals to be part of the BioSingapore community.

We would like thank Clearstate (EIU Healthcare) for their hard work and effort in helping to conduct the interviews and putting together this white paper.

The Next Lap: Biosciences in Singapore 2025 3

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the industry participants and influencers who participated, whether on record or anonymously,

for their valuable insights.

Interviewees

Abel Ang, Chief Operating Officer at Accuron Technologies

Abhijit Ghosh, Partner, Pharmaceutical Leader & Tax Market Counsel Member at PricewaterhouseCoopers Singapore

Benjamin Seet, Executive Director of the Biomedical Research Council at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research

Brian Henry, Executive Director and Site Lead, Early Discovery Pharmacology and Exploratory Sciences at MSD Translational Medicine

Research Centre Singapore

Carl Firth, CEO of ASLAN Pharmaceuticals

Chua Ean Chin, Country Manager, Singapore at Roche Diagnostics Singapore

Colin Tan, Chief Operating Officer at Endomaster

David Dally, CEO at MerLion Pharmaceuticals

Elena Rizova, Vice President External Innovation Asia Pacific at Johnson & Johnson Singapore

Gideon Ho, Co-Founder & CEO at Histoindex

Jonathan Kua, Group Director, Industry Development Group at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research

Jozica Habijanic, Head of Strategic Development at Roche Diagnostics Asia-Pacific

Julien de Salaberry, Chief Innovation Officer at The Propell Group

Kevin Lai, Executive Director Biomedical Sciences and Consumer Businesses at Singapore Economic Development Board

Kristina Rutkute, Scientific Programme Manager for SPRINT-TB at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Lance Little, Managing Director at Roche Diagnostics Asia-Pacific

Leslie Chaney, Senior Director of Asia-Pacific Commercial Operations at Marken

Maha Guruswamy, Senior Director JAPAC Service at Sciex

Margam Chandrasekaran, CEO & Chief Scientist at Bio-Scaffold International

Michel Birnbaum, Entrepreneur in Residence at NTUitive, Nanyang Technological University

Nawal Roy, at Founder & CEO at Holmusk

Neo Kah Yean, Senior Director Vaccines Asia-Pacific at Janssen Singapore

Nicholas Paton, Programme Lead for SPRINT-TB at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Patrik Frei, Founder and CEO of Venture Valuation

Renaud Jonquieres, Vice President ASPAC Industry at bioMerieux Singapore

Ron Snir, Commercial Attaché at the Israel Trade & Economic Office, Embassy of Israel in Singapore

Rosaline Chow Koo, Founder & CEO at ConneXionsAsia (CXA)

Sharon Chiang, Senior Technology Consultant at IPI Singapore

Siew Hwa Ong, Director & Chief Scientist at Acumen Research Laboratories

Simranjit Singh, General Manager, Medical Devices & Diagnostics Asia and Senior Director, Strategic Planning Asia at Quintiles

The Next Lap: Biosciences in Singapore 2025 4

Executive summary

ingapore is entering its fourth phase of bioscience sector development. Over the first

three phases in the past fifteen years, Singapore has built world-class infrastructure

for bioscience R&D and manufacturing, and attracted and developed skilled talent

for basic as well as translational and clinical research.

The bioscience sector now accounts for S$1.5B in total R&D expenditure and S$30B in

manufacturing output, and has attracted R&D partnerships from major multinational

companies in pharmaceutical and medical device segments. In terms of translating to

commercial success, early inspirations include: the first novel drug from a Singapore company

to achieve FDA approval (for MerLion Pharma's antibiotic finafloxacin otic suspension), a

pipeline relevant to local disease burden including gastric cancer, cardiovascular and

metabolic diseases, and a slew of start-ups in medical device, diagnostics and health

technology segments (for example, Biosensors, Endomaster, Veredus Diagnostics,

ConneXionsAsia, Healint, and many others).

Though Singapore has succeeded in building a reputation as a regional biomed cluster,

challenges remain. With limited resources and rising costs, there is a need to focus R&D on

areas where Singapore has a distinctive edge. Commercialisation remains at an early stage,

with gaps in venture capital and complex skill-set required to bring healthcare products and

services to market. Finally, there are opportunities left untapped in emerging Asian markets,

which are expanding their populations' access to healthcare with the result of soaring

demand and expenditure on medical devices, diagnostics, therapeutics and technologies.

In this white paper, we review the development to date and in comparison with a few other

bioscience clusters: Israel, Taiwan and South Korea. We then highlight R&D, commercialisation

and talent development opportunities that can help Singapore sustain and entrench its

position over the next ten years as a biopolis of Asia.

The Next Lap: Biosciences in Singapore 2016–25 5

S

Looking backRecap of bioscience sector development in Singapore 2000–15

In June 2000, the Singapore government launched its initiative to develop Singapore into an international biomedical sciences hub: the ‘biopolis’ of Asia, one of the most research-intensive, innovative and entrepreneurial economies. The bioscience cluster comprises healthcare services, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, medical devices, health technologies, and food & nutrition.

Much of the current Singapore bioscience cluster did not exist fifteen years ago, and has taken shape as the result of a top-down effort to rapidly develop excellence in research and development, manufacturing and healthcare delivery. Three government agencies – the Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) of A*STAR, the Biomedical Sciences Group (BMSG) of the Economic Development Board, and the National Medical Research Council (NMRC) of the Ministry of Health – have led sector development thus far. Commercialisation support in terms of grants, incentives and incubators for SMEs also comes from the Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board (SPRING Singapore).

Singapore’s bioscience sector has developed over three phases during the past fifteen years: world-class infrastructure purpose-built for R&D and bio-manufacturing since phase 1, translational and clinical capabilities assembled in phases 2 and 3, and commercialisation gaining traction in phase 3.

The Next Lap: Biosciences in Singapore 2025 6

Research institutes and consortia established

GIS BII IBN SBC SIgN CIRCETCIMBSICS

S$30BManufacturing output in 2012, up from S$6B in 2000

Bioscience cluster highlights

50R&D centres (2014)

29Spin-offs (2010–2014)

Sources: Biomedical Sciences Industry in Singapore, EDB (2014)A*STAR National Survey of R&D in Singapore 2013 (2014), A*STAR

Phase 1: 2000–2005

Basic research infrastructure and talent development

S$7B budget

Phase 3: 2011–2015

Partnerships and commercialisation

S$16.1B R&D budget

Phase 2: 2006–2010

Translational and clinical research capabilities

S$13.6B R&D budget

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

PUBERD67%

BERD33%

Gross R&D expenditure

S$1.5B(2013)

Private24%

Public38%

University38%

Researchers 5,280(2013)

MSD Translational Medicine Research Hub

Roche Translational Medicine Hub

Chugai PharmabodyResearch

Bayer Translational Oncology Network

Pharma37%

Medtech63%

Manufacturingworkforce

16,000

192Patents awarded A*STAR institutes (2010–2014) 7 in 10

Top pharma firms have regional headquarters in Singapore

50 Manufacturing plants in 2014

How does Singapore compare?With bioscience clusters in Israel, Taiwan, South Korea

The Next Lap: Biosciences in Singapore 2016–25 7

Israel Singapore Taiwan South Korea

R&D intensity: GERD/GDP 2011

Researchers in R&D / mil people 2011

Bioscience patent applications (2012)

451 104 N/A 1,168

Scientific American 2015 Worldview biotech rank

# 18 # 5 # 25 # 23

3.97% 2.23% 2.30% 4.36%

6602 6494 7480 5928

Compared with regional clusters, Singapore enjoys an enviable position as a hub for commerce, finance, logistics and distribution, besides a reputation for world-class infrastructure as well as skilled and diverse talent. Rising costs of living and doing business, as well as a small local market and an entrepreneurial deficit, are the major challenges for the bioscience sector in Singapore.

Comparatively, there is more commercialisation success observed in Israel, Taiwan and South Korea. These clusters draw on the commercial and entrepreneurial mind-sets of their workforce, as well as abundant private capital, local (industry-academia) as well as inter-country collaboration, and focus on emerging global trends in biosciences.

Taiwan

Biosciences a priority sector since 1980s, long-term goal is 3% of global biotech market

Public research to preclinical stage and proof-of-concept, then licensed to local firms

Strategic location for market access: near China, SEA, northeast Asia

IPOs at NASDAQ-style bourse attract venture capital

South Korea

Large pharma market & clinical trial hub: 800+ companies, 100+ drugs to market

Regional bio-clusters with R&D institutes and venture funding from diversified chaebol

MNC R&D collaborations and licensing deals

Government goal: top 7 pharma powerhouse by 2020

Israel

Highly educated, driven and entrepreneurial people: 70-80 new life science firms annually

High R&D spend: top in GERD & BERD (250 MNC R&D) as % GDP

Abundant venture capital and access to US & EU markets

Strong IT sector and framework to capitalise on big data

Sources: A*STAR, Israel Advanced Technology Industries, Scientific American, World Intellectual Property Organisation

New growth centresExpand access to emerging markets

Traditionally, developed countries such as the United States have been the focus for healthcare companies worldwide, with high spending per person and as a percentage of GDP. However these are increasingly challenging markets to serve, with governments clamping down on soaring healthcare costs.

Meanwhile, emerging markets have been steadily boosting their expenditure on healthcare. Universal health coverage schemes in various countries, ageing, urbanisation and affluence, and increasing disease burden (particularly for non-communicable diseases) are boosting awareness and access to healthcare. Given Singapore's proximity to ASEAN countries and emerging giants such as China and India, these markets present a vital long-term opportunity.

The Next Lap: Biosciences in Singapore 2025 8

“There is a huge emerging market in

China and India for frugal innovation

in healthcare technology. But the

barrier to capitalizing on this demand

is that I don't see enough

collaboration in Singapore with these

two large markets. Many MNCs have

R&D centres in Singapore as well as

India and China, but there is very

limited cooperation with these. This is

a missed opportunity because of the

speed of getting things done here, the

quality of manpower and the

technology facilitation that can be

done in places like Biopolis is huge

advantage for Singapore, which could

be used to collaborate with those two

emerging but very large economies.”

Maha Guruswamy

Senior Director JAPAC at Sciex

However, these markets have different needs and challenges: for instance, limited healthcare infrastructure, personnel and equipment. As governments seek to expand access with limited budgets and infrastructure, and patients' out-of-pocket costs remain high, value products and services have posted strong growth. There is strong demand in these markets for competitive pricing, ease of use and good-enough (not the best) quality and specifications.

How can Singapore's bioscience sector address regional problems, given its very different size, affluence and infrastructure? Skilled talent attracted from around the region, as well as collaboration with R&D centres in emerging markets, can help identify unmet needs and opportunities. Singapore's superior infrastructure and skilled talent can help develop solutions quickly, and again draw on regional talent and knowledge to coordinate production, distribution and access to regional markets.

Virtually all the growth in Asia-Pacific healthcare expenditure will come from emerging markets

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Thailand

Taiwan

South Korea

Singapore

Philippines

Pakistan

New Zealand

Malaysia

Japan

Indonesia

India

Hong Kong

China

Australia

USD billion

Focus areas for investmentMaximise relevance and return

To maximise relevance and return on investment, elements of the bioscience sector should clearly articulate and follow strategic focus areas. Given local and regional needs and capabilities developed thus far, there are three approaches for prioritisation:

Align with local disease burden: Converge A*Star, university and hospital research on strategic health challenges: the biggest contributors to the burden of disease in Singapore. These are relevant for other developed markets and also increasingly emerging regional markets with ageing populations and growing affluence.

Precision medicine for Asian phenotypes:Leverage on location to focus on specific diseases with Asian distinctiveness, whether presentation, pathology, genomic make up, response to treatment, or the propensity to adverse drug reactions. Singapore's small size and integrated health system make it a good test hub for new health technologies and innovations in the continuum of care. For instance, a centralised population genomic database and regulatory framework for data privacy and security, in addition to electronic health records, can facilitate cost-effective research and analytics for personalised therapies for the local population, with extrapolation potential to other markets.

Create value through complex production:How can Singapore stay competitive as a manufacturing location, despite rising costs here as well as growing sophistication of regional alternatives like China? By selecting complex manufacturing projects that need skilled talent and cutting-edge technology, such as biologics. Singapore should continue to invest in next-generation platforms to help bioscience companies make dramatic improvements to productivity and costs. Government collaboration and risk-sharing will help attract such investment, besides availability of talent to facilitate expansion to regional markets.

The Next Lap: Biosciences in Singapore 2025 9

Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) quantify premature mortality (years of life lost, YLLs) & disability (years lived with disability, YLDs)

Source: Ministry of Health, Singapore burden of disease study 2010

7.7%

14.0%

14.2%

19.9%

18.9%

Respiratory infections

Neurological

Diabetes

Heart disease

Cancer

Burden of disease: Singapore% of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs)

“Singapore is in a unique situation because

the population is small but concentrated and

there is good integration between the health

system and government bodies. I believe it's

easier for Singapore to put in place a

[genomic] database and start to explore

what the information means for patients

here and then extrapolate to other countries.

I don't see Singapore's size as a barrier but

an opportunity: the size makes such a

project easily manageable.”

Elena Rizova

Vice President External Innovation Asia

Pacific at Johnson & Johnson

“We have Amgen, who have launched their

factory of the future in Singapore. This is a

complete single-use facility, and it took 1/4

of the cost to build and 1/4 of the land space

as opposed to a traditional biotech facility. I

think there is a lot of opportunity for us to

invest and advance the technology, and

that's how we can differentiate and promote

Singapore.”

Kevin Lai

Executive Director Biomedical Sciences and

Consumer Businesses, EDB

1

2

3

Accelerating commercialisationRange of routes to market

The Next Lap: Biosciences in Singapore 2025 10

Looking back at the past fifteen years of bioscience development, Singapore’s strengths in basic and translational research capabilities have yet to translate into substantial commercial success.

Commercialisation outcomes Singapore Comparison with: Israel

# IPs licensed 238 (2010–2014) 259 (2012–2013)

# Spin-offs 29 (till 2013) 72 (2012–2013)

Data sources A*STAR Israel Advanced Technology Industries

“The commercialisation journey takes a while,

but we are starting to see some outcomes

happening in the Singapore’s biomedical

space. For example, we have had half a dozen

biomedical start-ups from A*STAR annually in

recent years and several others from the

universities as well. More importantly,

Singapore-based companies and academia

have developed a strong pipeline of drug

candidates and several have successfully

advanced into clinical testing both here and

overseas.”

Jonathan Kua

Director, Industry Development Group, A*STAR

“Singapore has the scientific capabilities,

clinical infrastructure and some exciting IP

in A*Star, Duke-NUS and other institutions.

The challenge is in translating clinical ideas

into commercial success; we have few

examples of such success. Singapore has

attracted scientists but not a great deal of

entrepreneurial and commercial experience

in getting drugs to patients: big pharma and

biotech experience with a blend of R&D,

commercial and investor perspectives.

This is what we are now trying to change.”

Carl Firth

CEO, Aslan Pharmaceuticals

To speed up commercialisation, it is vital for bioscience segments to pursue viable channels to market; entrepreneurship comprises just one of several options.

Licensing

Spin-offsCollaboration

Start-ups

From an institute perspective, industry

engagement may span collaborative

research funded by a private unit (e.g. MNC

R&D) at a public institute or university,

to licensing of IP in return for royalties

Spin-offs are created, financed and managed by universities; start-ups have external investors and management plus often in-licensed technology

Accelerating commercialisationRange of routes to market

The Next Lap: Biosciences in Singapore 2025 11

Boost engagement with industry

Why collaborate? The R&D costs for medical devices and drugs are soaring, with >US$1.2B spent on average per drug approved, according to Quintiles, a leading contract research organisation. Given the relatively longer ‘valley of death’ for drug and medical device development, as compared to a health technology or services, clinical development now needs large reserves of private capital – or alternatively, extensive collaboration. For drug discovery in particular, a viable channel to market is through established big pharma, who are in turn shifting decisively towards open innovation models with growing reliance on R&D partners to reduce costs.

How to accelerate? The following success factors are vital for effective collaboration, to generate ideas and develop products with better commercial potential.

1

Strong industry

baseResearchers

open to collaboration

Alignment of institutes and

industry

Attract and

retain corporate

innovation and

venture funds,

and early-stage

R&D centres

Boost industry and

international exposure to

familiarize researchers

with cutting-edge

science and enable them

to speak industry

language

Facilitate validation;

streamline intelligence

and legal processes to

accelerate collaboration

and tech transfer to SMEs

and large enterprises

“Research institutes in Singapore

generate some exciting intellectual

property, and investigators are open to

collaborating with industry. Streamlining

tech transfer and licensing processes will

speed up partnerships, and prevent

companies’ interest from moving on to

other locations and topics.”

Brian Henry

Executive Director and Site Lead, Early

Discovery Pharmacology and Exploratory

Sciences at MSD Translational Medicine

Research Centre

“There is an increasing need for sophisticated

technology and expertise to test novel

therapies and devices: for instance,

humanised and immunocompetent animal

models to test immunotherapies; genomic

biomarkers to support clinical trials, and the

like. Public-funded research supports many of

the activities that help validate such

technologies, and bring them to a stage that

would be relevant to companies.”

Benjamin Seet, Executive Director of the

Biomedical Research Council at the Agency for

Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)

Accelerating commercialisationRange of routes to market

The Next Lap: Biosciences in Singapore 2025 12

Attract savvy private capital to grow start-ups and SMEs2

“There is a real and immediate need in Singapore for an entrepreneur with a great health tech idea to

be able to surround himself or herself with the right acceleration mechanisms and expertise in order to

quickly succeed. Today, this 'acceleration' platform simply does not exist in Singapore, despite

vehement agreement among key decision makers in Singapore that this should happen and this needs

to be resolved sooner rather than later, otherwise Singapore will miss out contributing significantly to

that ecosystem.”

Julien de Salaberry

Chief Innovation Officer at The Propell Group

Short gestation time helps attract capital

Health tech & services

Device & diagnostics

Pharmaceuticals

Unlike clusters such as the United States or Israel, Singapore lacks ready access to an investor base with deep biotech knowledge and experience. Local investors as well as offices established by international venture capital are often generalists, and have other options with faster return or lower risk than biotech.

Singapore also lacks a NASDAQ-style bourse, with trade sales accounting for the majority of transactions. An exchange such as the GreTai Securities Market (Taipei Exchange) in Taiwan could provide a financing option for domestic bioscience companies and enable a vibrant IPO market to attract private capital from a range of investors: retail, venture capital, private equity, family offices, as well as corporate investors.

120 / 685 total

Taiwan GTMS: Listed biotech companies, 2014

“I think it's very difficult for a company in Singapore

to raise money after the initial government grant. In

the US or Europe, there are VCs, corporate investors,

business angels, family offices, patient

organisations, philanthropy and grant funding –

there is a whole range. In Singapore, I don't see an

investor community, e.g. a business angel club or

many corporate investors. As for bringing in

investors from the outside, you need a local VC who

can bring in American VCs. They need to have a lead

investor who is a local, someone they can trust – it

is too far away from the US or Europe to take a lead.”

Patrik Frei

Founder and CEO of Venture Valuation

“Government grants such as LETAS

are too generalised. Companies are

eligible for government grants only

if <5 years old, which is fine for a

software company to go to market.

But medical equipment technology

development to final execution will

take 8–10 years. Also some grants

are on reimbursement basis, but

young companies do not have

resources to spend upfront.”

Dr Margam Chandrasekaran, CEO &

Chief Scientist at Bio-Scaffold

International

Finally, there is room for effective sector-specific incubators and accelerators to provide shared facilities as well as guidance to help scale up bioscience businesses. Success stories will help spark more interest in commercialisation, both from entrepreneurs as well as venture capital.

Time to market & difficulty raising capital

Next-generation talentCommercial and convergence skills

Attract senior talent with the multi-functional experience and perspectives.

Bring in, encourage and support MNCs with internal cross-training, to expand and entrench their R&D functions in Singapore and also anchor their regional headquarters in Singapore. Besides drawing in international talent, this will also serve to develop local talent who are likely to be cross-trained as opportunities arise when they advance in their careers. The star talent brought in for the next phase should combine R&D and commercial perspectives. Singapore already enjoys a reputation for the best quality of life in Asia; sustain and enhance stability, vibrancy and ease of living and working here to continue to attract global talent and to retain the best and brightest locals.

Train workforce in core skills to support and capitalise on convergence trends.

Identify areas with emerging convergence, and steer the tertiary education system to equip new entrants to the workforce with

relevant skill sets. For example, the advent of big data and its growing application in

biosciences presents an opportunity for a next wave of highly skilled jobs. Singapore

can capitalise on this opportunity by creating a critical mass of cross-trained

talent, such as scientists who understand statistics and computer programming, and

can apply those skills to biosciences R&D. As medicine grows increasingly multi-

disciplinary, cross-trained medical specialists will add to the pool of experts able to spot and exploit opportunities to

develop future therapies and technologies.

The Next Lap: Biosciences in Singapore 2025 13

Human capital is a critical component to realise R&D, manufacturing and commercialisation strategies for the next phase. The bioscience sector being a heavily knowledge-based industry, the availability and relevance of talent is essential to success.

Considering talent needs for the next phase, there is a stark gap surfacing in spaces for cross-functional talent, where traditional skill sets converge. Bringing bioscience products and services to market requires a range of capabilities spanning research, development, regulatory and market access, sales and marketing, financial and so on. Multi-functional talent with relevant experience in R&D as well as sales and marketing will be of critical importance in rapidly commercializing new products and services. This convergence of a deep technical background with strong commercial experience is a skill set that is not commonly available in Singapore. To engineer a depth of such talent, the bioscience sector should utilise a two-pronged talent strategy.

1 2

“Singapore is still in the first cycle of

entrepreneurship. There is plenty of excellent

scientific expertise but a shallow experienced

talent pool with the commercial and

management skills to develop a product and

bring it to market. There is a lack of people

who can be CEOs, COOs, CFOs; what we have

is scientists trying to start companies. They

have had little exposure to business,

especially the entrepreneurial side. These

skills cannot be built overnight, so there is a

need to attract the necessary talent.”

Michel Birnbaum, Entrepreneur in Residence

at NTUitive, Nanyang Technological University

“Singapore should do more to grow its

next generation of leaders. The

government and industry can help to

identify good people to groom for C-level

positions. Then the industry should rotate

the talent through meaningful

assignments to build cross-functional

skills: R&D, commercial, country

assignments, sales experience and so

forth. We must create opportunities to

develop a pipeline of outstanding

management talent.”

Abel Ang, Chief Operating Officer at

Accuron Technologies

ConclusionThe next ten years

Over the past 15 years, Singapore has developed into a renowned bioscience cluster through

top-down investment in world-class infrastructure and skilled talent for R&D and bio-

manufacturing. In the next ten years, industry should take the lead to create lasting

commercial success.

A solid base of SMEs is key, and is a major gap to be filled. Health technology and services

companies with quicker time to market have the edge in terms of attracting impatient capital.

Efficient investment should span a balanced portfolio of incremental and transformational

ideas across medical devices, diagnostics, pharma and biotech. Attracting more corporate and

venture funds and incubators will help find, fund and guide ideas with commercial potential.

More public-private collaboration will increase commercial potential of R&D.

Build the right talent, and more capital will come. Commercial experience is the biggest gap

to fill: an efficient yet effective staff to manage SMEs, with cross-functional skills across R&D,

engineering, quality control, regulatory, market access, finance and sales and marketing. It is

necessary to attract such stars from across the globe, and also vital to steadily develop the

local talent pool. Beyond building a top layer of management talent, training a mid layer in

convergence skills can bring the next wave of skilled and well-paying jobs.

Singapore's dot-sized market has always spurred local companies to expand internationally,

usually to larger but similarly affluent markets. If a new breed of entrepreneurs can harness

Singapore's infrastructure and talent to meet very different needs in emerging markets, that

will open up a wealth of new opportunities. Lessons from other clusters indicate regionally

collaborative development can help, and Singapore can draw on easily attracted regional

talent for intelligence and ability to access new markets.

The next phase of development presents new challenges and opportunities for Singapore, as

healthcare markets undergo transformational shifts on a global scale. As we look ahead to

2025, the bioscience sector should consider how best to create success stories that inspire

interest from capital and talent.

The Next Lap: Biosciences in Singapore 2025 14

About Clearstate

Clearstate (www.clearstate.com), a business of the Economist Intelligence Unit, is a research consultancy specialising in the domains of healthcare and life sciences, advising on growth strategies in emerging economies.

Clearstate is the go-to research consulting partner for clients seeking greenfield growth opportunities in fast-expanding emerging economies. By leveraging The Economist Intelligence Unit’s depth of country expertise, we offer visibility and credible forecasts on the direction of emerging economies’ opaque healthcare environments.

We have a strong reputation among our clients for our depth of industry knowledge, our collaborative approach and our innovative solutions. We are recognised for consistently listening and working in partnership with our clients to deliver comprehensive and granular answers that go beyond the obvious.

About the authors

Wilson Tan is Director, Strategy & New Solutions at Clearstate. He has more than 12 years of consulting experience within healthcare in Asia-Pacific and emerging markets, across medical technology, pharmaceutical, life sciences and healthcare services sectors

Kavitha Hariharan is a Principal Consultant at Clearstate. She has over 9 years of experience in market intelligence and strategic advisory to multinational, SME and government clients in medical devices, pharmaceutical and healthcare services sectors.

This white paper drew on research support provided by Hantao Liang, an Analyst at Clearstate.

While every effort has been taken to verify the accuracy of this information, Clearstate (Pte) Ltd and the Economist Intelligence Unit Ltd. cannot accept any responsibility or liability for reliance by any

person on this report or any of the information, opinions or conclusions set out in this report.

Copyright © 2015 Clearstate (Pte) Ltd. All rights reserved.

For enquiries, please email info@clearstate.com