Singapore Giving India a Run for Its Money in Biomedical

Biotech may be a sunrise industry in India but it has an aggressive competitor in Singapore. The Asian counterpart has marched streets ahead by not just creating a conducive environment, but also by establishing the necessary infrastructure to "entice" research-oriented companies to flock to Singapore.

"A prime reason why Singapore is chosen over India is because they protect Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). Companies take their R&D and clinical trial operations to Singapore because they see clarity in regulation, besides other financial benefits," observes the corporate-chief who has a base in Singapore as well.

Only about two years ago, pharma multinationals such as Eli Lilly and Novartis established their R&D centres in Singapore to research tropical diseases. Lilly has a budget of $140 million over five years at it's Centre for Systems Biology in Singapore, where it looks to accelerate the drug delivery process for the parent company.

Besides companies, such as Pfizer, Schering Plough, Wyeth and Siemens that have operations in Singapore, local and international biotech companies looking at drug discovery are also making a beeline to the city. They include, ES Cell International (involved in human embryonic stem cell research), MerLion Pharmaceuticals (natural product-based drug discovery) and Via-Cell (cell therapy research), the EDB official said.

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