Singapore sees a bigger role for the private sector in its campaign to become a global consumer healthcare hub through more investment in innovation, research and development. The aim is to serve the rising number of people in emerging markets who are paying more attention to good health.
Healthcare is one of the growth sectors the government has been actively exploring, and more investment in research and innovation will increase its economic contribution, said Koh Poh Koon, minister of state for Trade and Industry.
Plans call for investments totalling S$19 billion over the next five years in science and technology research, including S$4 billion in health and biomedical sciences. To meet these goals, the government is encouraging partnerships between the industry, public research bodies and academic institutions.
Companies can take advantage of the city-state's research and innovation infrastructure, as well as the local talent base to co-locate commercial, manufacturing and R&D activities in Singapore, which helps them to more effectively address market needs.
"Healthcare is a growth sector for Singapore. We are committed to investing in research and innovation, as well as talent development to partner companies to better access the growth opportunities in emerging markets," Mr Koh said during the recent groundbreaking ceremony for the global consumer healthcare manufacturing and R&D hub of Mundipharma, best known for its Betadine antiseptic products.
The Singapore government has joined with many global pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs with close cooperation from academic institutions. Examples include the work by the Novartis Institute of Tropical Diseases (NITD) with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) to develop an advanced drug against malaria, and partnerships between Bayer Healthcare and academic institutions to study cancer. More such partnerships are in the pipeline.
One of the reasons Singapore is pushing for more R&D is the rising amount of spending on healthcare in the region as the population ages.
Asia, which is home to nearly 60% of the world's population, is a hotbed for healthcare growth and has attracted a lot of attention from the industry. In India, for example, healthcare spending is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 16.1% from 2016-19, compared with 4.3% globally.
Raman Singh, the president of Mundipharma for Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, said Singapore had all the necessary infrastructure to research and develop, manufacture and distribute to other regions in the world. That was why the company decided to establish the world's first Betadine Consumer Health Hub in Singapore, where it aims to produce up to one billion applications of Betadine treatments annually to meet increasing demand in the region.
Betadine wound-care products are on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, the most important products needed in a basic health system. Other Betadine products help to kill bacteria and viruses including influenza, and hand, foot and mouth disease. As well, Mundipharma has reported studies showing that Betadine helps to kill the viruses that cause Sars and Mers.
The newly constructed plant covering 7,300 square metres will allow the company's production lines to respond quickly to regional health crises, while its R&D unit will seek solutions to meet the new healthcare challenges faced by an increasingly globalised region.
Mr Singh said that 70% of new demand was projected to come from Asia so it was critical to have a strategically positioned manufacturing capability supported by R&D dedicated to the characteristics of the region it supports.
"Mundipharma shares the rising sense of responsibility in the pharmaceutical sector to ensure that the emerging world has equal access to innovation and supply as the more mature Western economies," he said. "Singapore is ideally placed to deliver on this goal."
From now on, he added, all six Betadine product lines, as well as any other new products from the Betadine line, will come only from the plant in Singapore.
Mundipharma sees Asean as an increasingly attractive market as people have more income to take care of their health. The company is responding by working on making the right products available at the right prices, he said.
Currently, 10-15% of Mundipharma's revenue comes from Southeast Asia and revenue from the region is expected to double within five years once the construction of the world's largest Betadine facility is completed in 2019.
Mr Singh said the company was planning to "bring Betadine lines back home" as manufacturing and marketing contracts in other countries expire, including one signed with Meiji in Japan. The company will market the products by itself, believing that the new plant in Singapore will help increase its capacity to enter new markets including Africa.
Weng Si Ho, director for biomedical science with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), praised the company's decision to make Singapore its hub, saying it was a testament to Singapore's ability to partner with companies in developing innovative medicines to address global healthcare needs.
The vibrant biomedical sciences ecosystem in Singapore makes it a choice location for Mundipharma last year generated US$3.6 billion in sales, led by its four main Betadine lines covering wound care, feminine care, throat and oral care, and infectious diseases.