Giving local biotech firms a boost

Public-private partnerships are highly beneficial as they leverage on the strengths of both sides to advance genomic science and medicine in Singapore- and help create successful local biotech companies.

This was the view of Genome Institute of Singapore Executive Director- Professor Ng Huck Hui- as he commented on the recent tie-up between GIS and NovogeneAIT Genomics. The latter is a joint venture between Novogene- a leading commercial provider of genomic services and solution and a local biotechnology company- AITbiotech.

GIS and NovogeneAIT Genomics have agreed to establish a joint whole genome sequencing (WGS) centre at Biopolis. The partners will devote a major portion of the centre’s sequencing capabilities to support public research projects and empower super scale sequencing initiatives in Singapore and the region. NovogeneAIT will also work with GIS to develop new applications of next-generation sequencing- such as WGS solutions for cancer diagnosis and stratified cancer treatment.

Novogene CEO Dr Ruiqiang Li said: “The centre is the first major project for NovogeneAIT and is an important milestone for our company. This unique partnership allows us to work with the Singapore and regional communities on large scale sequencing projects. This new base also provides exciting opportunities for local research initiatives that can benefit humanity.”