A-Bio

Dr. Steven Lee advised us that leadership and entrepreneurship has to go hand-in-hand. His “Develop-in-Singapore” approach is a combination of two different streams: growing leadership talent and developing capabilities in Singapore.

I was born and raised in Taiwan. I finished my college degree in Agricultural Chemistry at the National Taiwan University. Subsequently, I went to the United States for advanced studies in Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, (M.S. Degree) and Biochemical Engineering, Ph.D. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The pioneering, integrated program at MIT then was the first training cross disciplinary professionals encompassing life sciences, chemistry and engineering.

After completion of my Ph.D. training, I spent about 20 years working in global pharmaceutical companies in US such as Hoffmann-La Roche, Merck and Co. Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, all involved in bioprocess development and biologics manufacturing, across R&D and commercial manufacturing boundary. As VP and GM of BMS biologics site in New York, I built and led a cross functional team to develop bioprocesses for an antibody fusion protein for Rheumatoid Arthritis that was launched worldwide in 2006.

For the past decade or so, I have witnessed the most impressive build up of biomedical R&D infrastructure in Singapore. This was the very far sighted vision of Mr. Philip Yeo, Special Advisor for Economic Development in the Prime Minister’s Office and Chairman of SPRING Singapore and the previous A*Star Chairman, a true visionary and legend of our time. My Ph.D. advisor and mentor at MIT, Prof. Danny Wang has been here for many years to help build the foundation of bio-processing technology with Prof. Miranda Yap, now head of BTI. A-Bio was established in 2003 as a high quality premium biotech company. It was quite natural that I decided to make the move to Singapore at the end of 2008.

The very nature of R&D aiming at drug discovery is a long term, persistent effort involving extensive cross functional teams, and most importantly, sustained ample funding for decades. This is due to the low success rate of drug discovery – 1 out of 10,000–30,000 molecules actually successfully reached the market, after more than USD$1bn investment and 10-15 years. However, high risks mean high rewards – those so-called blockbuster medicines (more than 1 Billion per year revenue) provide significant profits to the sponsor (drug company) and funds for more R&D, while millions of patients benefited from novel and better treatments, in particular, many diseases we have now today.

The reality is, in order to commercialize the novel research finding, serious development enabling further studies and producing larger quantity of efficacious material requires teams equipped with very different skills.

For drug development, there are significant growth opportunities in Asia, as pharmaceutical industry transitions to outsourcing their R&D and manufacturing.  Singapore has substantial infrastructure now for drug discovery research.  To enable further commercialisation, we have to have high quality science first, followed by preclinical and clinical studies, using material produced under specific guidelines such as GMP and GLP.  Working with scientists in A*STAR, A-Bio serve the critical function of process development and manufacturing to support preclinical and clinical studies. The key development functions such as manufacturing and clinical development are essential in the chain of drug development.

The people with a business background are a different breed altogether from science and engineering trainings.  You will find relatively a smaller portion of scientists with a business background and inclination – They tend to pursue courses on their own and maybe an MBA in order to become the next leaders. They are rare, but there are an increasing number of people who are exposed to business. In a team environment, we need members with diversified training and background to foster a collaborative and productive culture.  

As mentioned, currently there is a lot good research work going on, hospitals are organizing clinical trials and there are large biologics manufacturers already here to form a biologics manufacturing centre. All these key elements are already here. To develop a drug, you require the research institutes to establish the science for future commercialization. Subsequently people in the licensing (technology transfer) office, legal and clinical trial design departments should get involved. Furthermore, you have to manufacture the initial material at early phase in order to undertake the animal studies and clinical human trial phases with marketing support from external consultants. A-Bio Pharma has such manufacturing capability. I call this the “Develop-in-Singapore” (DIS) model.

A-Bio Pharma is an essential element on the island; we are the key flexible biologics manufacturing capability here to serve the discovery engine such as A*STAR.  We are the service provider (contract manufacturer) for multiple drugs which come through the pipeline.  A-Bio has broad range of capabilities and biologics manufacturing platform in Singapore to support many discovery programs including monoclonal antibodies, vaccines and stem cells.

Singapore has little advantage in terms of cost savings. However, what is important in drug development is quality, not only costs. We have the technical expertise and high quality training in people. In addition, we are following global standards and strong IP protection. Therefore, any drug made here as opposed to China or India has a higher chance of being approved by the FDA.

Singapore impresses people with its knowledge about global standards and its extensive manufacturing experience. Tie this with a guided process development to do a quicker, faster and more cost-effective way so that a new drug (or product) goes through the market without re-doing it. That is the intangible value and the empirical experience we have accumulated and it takes 10 years to get there.

 

To contact the reporter on this story: Ai San Yip at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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