BIOMEDICAL PRODUCTION SOARS IN SINGAPORE

Output in Singapore's biomedical manufacturing sector is soaring, according to official data, increasing 146.9% in September compared to the same period last year. However, part of the reason for this high growth was the relatively low level of output in September 2004. Overall, for the first nine months of the 2005, biomedical production grew 11.2%, on a year-on-year comparison.

Singapore's government has been keen to launch the island as Asia's leading centre for biotechnology investment and research. This has included offering generous tax breaks, grants and administrative support to encourage investment in the area.

The government has also invested SGD500mn (US$293mn) in the "Biopolis" biomedical research centre, which opened in early 2005. The facility has already attracted SGD849mn (US$514.36mn) in investment form the biomedical sector and as a result the government is to embark on phase II of the centre's development plans, which include expanding capacity and a employing an extra 2,000 researchers.

Meanwhile, drugmakers in Singapore boosted production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) by 200.4%. The dynamic growth has come amid a surge in demand from the US and European markets, and has gone some way to off-setting cooling in global demand for Singapore's hi-tech exports over the past 12 months.