Singapore, a cosmopolitan city state that offers world-class living standards and attracts talent from all over the globe, has maintained its reputation and standard as the top Asian destination for multinational pharmaceutical companies. The country is growing as a plug-and-play platform for biomedical research companies for global and domestic research and development (R&D) activities. It provides an excellent vantage point to efficiently drive innovation and grow business.

Over the years, it has prioritized focus on research and biomedical manufacturing. It is continuously making strides to maintain a word-class R&D infrastructure that support local and international research companies to execute programs in the island country.

Singapore has committed $12.8 billion in its continued support to research, innovation, and enterprise activities between 2011 and 2015. According to Economic Development Board of Singapore (EDB), out of the $12.8 billion, $2.9 billion is dedicated to enhance existing biomedical R&D infrastructure, integrate multidisciplinary research, and translate basic science into tangible outcomes.

The country also presents opportunities to tap into the multidisciplinary capabilities offered by an integrated research network in basic and translational research. According to EDB, 4,400 researchers carry out biomedical sciences R&D in more than 50 companies, universities, and 30 public sector institutes under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) and the Ministry of Health (MoH). Collectively, more than $1 billion is spent on biomedical R&D annually.

To further transform the translation of science into viable healthcare solutions through public-private partnerships, Singapore has set up its biomedical sciences Industry Partnership Office as a single point of contact for matching companies' R&D needs, to build expertise in Singapore's research hospitals as well as academic and public research institutions.

Policy initiatives

Singapore government is giving high priority to enhance the healthcare infrastructure and is implementing advance technologies to facilitate healthcare delivery. The MoH and Accenture, a management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, jointly introduced a national electronic health record (EHR) system that will allow healthcare professionals across the region to access a single health record, providing clinicians with information such as patient demographics, diagnosis, and discharge summaries.