Singapore Gets Its First Biotech Company

In a US$40.5 million joint venture, Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB) has teamed with defense contractor Singapore Technologies Engineering (STE) and U.S. pharmaceutical firm Chiron Corp. (Emeryville, CA) to established Singapore's first biotechnology research company. The new entity, called S*Bio, will use small-molecule and genomic technology to conduct research in the areas of cancer and infectious diseases.

According to EDB chairman Philip Yeo, S*Bio represents a "shot in the arm" for Singapore's life sciences industry, which he hopes will become "the next big thing" after electronics for the city state. Last year, Singapore's life sciences output grew 34% to S$9.4 billion and was projected to reach S$12 billion per year by 2005.

"The transfer of technology from top tier biotechnology companies such as Chiron is vital in building up our research capabilities. This is necessary to propel the industry to become the next pillar of our economy," Yeo said at a news conference, adding the main hurdle to becoming a life sciences hub was finding qualified workers.

Chiron will help S*Bio over that first hurdle by training some 20 Singapore scientists over the next few months. The U.S. compan will also provide gene expression and combinational chemistry technologies to help the venture get started. Chiron expects that S*Bio will be fully operational within a year.

EDB contributed US$30 million to the joint venture, while Chiron contributed US$8 million, and STE US$2.5 million. Chiron will receive US$22 million over two years for technology transfer, and also retains the right to commercially develop some S*Bio discoveries. EDB's life sciences investment arm, PharmBio Growth Fund, and ST Engineering's Blue Dot Capital will also own intellectual capital.

For more information: Chiron Corp., 4560 Horton St., Emeryville, CA 94608-2916. Tel: 510-655-8730. Fax: 510-655-9910.

Edited by Jim Pomager