Singapore's biomedical sciences landscape

Abstract

Singapore's vision is to be the Biopolis of Asia, a leading international biomedical sciences cluster advancing human health, through the pursuit of excellence in research and development, manufacturing and healthcare delivery. To achieve this, Singapore has built up world-class capabilities across the entire value chain from drug discovery, development and clinical research, to manufacturing and healthcare delivery. In the year 2000, Singapore's Biomedical Sciences (BMS) initiative was launched to establish a focused effort on the development of this sector as the fourth pillar of Singapore's industry cluster, alongside electronics, chemicals and engineering. The BMS initiative covers the Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Medical Engineering and Technology and Healthcare Services industries. An integrated strategy was adopted for the development of the BMS sector, focusing on Human Capital, Intellectual Capital and Industrial Capital, or 3 Cs in short. The first phase of the BMS initiative (2000–2005) put in place key building blocks by establishing core capabilities in biomedical research, and introducing important human capital and industrial capital development initiatives. For the next phase (2006–2010), we will build on this foundation and strengthen our capabilities in translational and clinical research to bring discoveries from the bench to the bedside and the marketplace, and ultimately improve human healthcare.