Singapore Confers Honorary Citizen Award On A*STAR Board Member Professor William Chin

(L to R) Prof Tan Chorh Chuan, Chairman, A*STAR; Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Trade and Industry; Prof William Chin, A*STAR Board Member and HCA 2023 recipient; Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of the Republic of Singapore; Mr Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies; His Excellency Jonathan Kaplan, the United States Ambassador to Singapore, and Mr Frederick Chew, CEO, A*STAR, at the Istana on 23 October 2023.

SINGAPORE – Singapore has awarded Professor William Chin, Co-Chair of theExperimental Drug Development Centre Governing Board at A*STAR and BertarelliProfessor of Translational Medical Science and Medicine Emeritus at Harvard MedicalSchool, with the Honorary Citizen Award for his invaluable contributions to Singapore inthe fields of science and technology. Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of theRepublic of Singapore, conferred the award on Professor Chin at a ceremony held at theIstana today.

The Honorary Citizen Award (HCA) is the highest form of recognition bestowed by theSingapore Government for outstanding contributions by a non-Singaporean to thecountry’s growth and development. It is conferred on those who have made a significantimpact in the areas of business, science and technology, information communications,education, health, arts and culture, sports, tourism, community services or security. Pleaserefer to Annex A for more information on the Honorary Citizen Award, and Annex B forthe biography of the awardee.

Professor William Chin

Professor William Chin has been a member of the A*STAR Board since 2011, where hehas been instrumental in advising A*STAR and Singapore’s Research, Innovation andEnterprise (RIE) ecosystem on health and biomedical sciences initiatives. He has madedistinguished contributions to biotherapeutics research in Singapore and played a catalyticrole in the creation of the Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC) nationalplatform. Professor Chin also participated in and driven a range of collaborative projectswith various stakeholders in the biomedical research ecosystem, including universities,medical institutes and biotechnology companies, nurturing many local scientists in theprocess.

Prior to his appointment as an A*STAR Board member, Professor Chin held variouspositions on A*STAR Biomedical Research Council project review panels and strategygroups, reviewing key projects in skin research, human development and non-communicable diseases. Among the proposals reviewed was the establishment of theDrug Discovery and Development (D3) unit, which aimed to support drug developmentprocesses from pre-clinical to clinical stages in Singapore. D3 would later merge with theExperimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC) and Experimental Biotherapeutics Centre to formthe Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC). Together with Duke-NUS MedicalSchool and the Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC), D3 progressed Singapore’s firsttwo publicly funded cancer drugs, ETC-159 and ETC-206. The latter is licensed toSingapore-based biotech company AUM Biosciences. The company has since announcedtwo major pharma clinical collaborations using the molecule in combination withimmunotherapy for solid tumours.

Professor Chin is currently the co-Chair of the EDDC Governing Board. Under hisstewardship, EDDC has continued to progress its portfolio of drug discovery anddevelopment projects, and generated value through creating and supporting biotechstartups, as well as licensing several technologies to pharmaceutical companies.

Professor Chin said, "I am very proud to see the increasing growth of Singapore’sbiomedical research ecosystem. In the past decade, Singapore has punched above itsweight as a small nation and created impact for the world. A*STAR has been a keycontributor to the research ecosystem, using excellent science to improve health andsocietal outcomes for all. With the same goal, I am positive that EDDC will continue todrive more drug development pipelines and translate scientific excellence into medicinesthat benefit patients. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to help Singapore over theyears."

Mr Frederick Chew, Chief Executive Officer of A*STAR, said, "Professor Chin is very well-respected internationally, and Singapore’s R&D ecosystem has benefitted tremendouslyfrom his counsel, networks and leadership. As A*STAR’s board member and throughvarious ecosystem advisory roles over the years, he has worked hard to help Singapore’sRIE ecosystem translate good science into health and economic impact. I congratulateProfessor Chin on this well-deserved award, and look forward to his continuedcontributions in the years to come."

Enclosed:
ANNEX A – Info on the Honorary Citizen Award
ANNEX B – Biography of Professor William Chin

ANNEX A – INFO ON THE HONORARY CITIZEN AWARD

Honorary Citizen Award
The title of Honorary Citizen is a national award conferred by the Singapore Governmentsince 2003 to recognise and acknowledge the contributions of non-Singaporeans whohave rendered extensive and valuable services to Singapore and its people, or who havemade a significant impact in the areas of business, science and technology, informationcommunications, education, health, arts and culture, sports, tourism and communityservices or security.

The Honorary Citizen Award is the highest form of national recognition for a non-Singaporean.

The title of Honorary Citizen is conferred for life.

ANNEX B – BIOGRAPHY OF PROFESSOR WILLIAM CHIN

Professor William Chin is currently Co-Chair of the Experimental Drug DevelopmentCentre (EDDC) Governing Board, and Bertarelli Professor of Translational MedicalScience and Medicine Emeritus at Harvard Medical School. He previously served as ChiefMedical Officer and Executive Vice President at PhRMA and Executive Dean for Researchat Harvard Medical School, following a 10-year career at Eli Lilly, where he was mostrecently Senior Vice President for Discovery Research and Clinical Investigation.Professor Chin is a Harvard-trained endocrinologist and longstanding faculty member.During his tenure as a faculty member in the Department of Medicine at Brigham andWomen’s Hospital, he was chief of the Genetics Division and a Howard Hughes MedicalInstitute (HHMI) investigator and professor of medicine at HMS.

Professor William Chin has been a member of the A*STAR Board since 2011, where hehas been instrumental in advising A*STAR and Singapore’s Research, Innovation andEnterprise ecosystem on health and biomedical sciences initiatives, particularly ontranslating good science into health and economic impact. He has made distinguishedcontributions to biotherapeutics research in Singapore and played a catalytic role in thecreation of the Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC). Professor Chin has alsoparticipated in and driven a range of collaborative projects with various stakeholders in thebiomedical research ecosystem, including universities, medical institutes andbiotechnology companies, nurturing many local scientists in the process.

During his time at Eli Lilly from 1999 to 2010, Prof William Chin played an important role inexpanding Lilly Systems Biology in Singapore to become the Lilly Singapore Centre forDrug Discovery. This end-to-end drug discovery unit collaborated extensively with localresearch institutes such as the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), SingaporeInstitute for Clinical Sciences (SICS) and the Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC) 1 , as well as SingHealth’s National Neuroscience Institute.

Prior to his appointment as an A*STAR Board member, Professor Chin held variouspositions on A*STAR Biomedical Research Council project review panels and strategygroups, which reviewed key ecosystem projects in skin research, human development andnon-communicable diseases.

Among the proposals reviewed was the establishment of the Drug Discovery andDevelopment unit, or D3, which supported drug development efforts from pre-clinical toclinical stages in Singapore. Together with Duke-NUS Medical School and ETC, D3progressed Singapore’s first two publicly funded cancer drugs, ETC-159 and ETC-206,with the latter licensed to Singapore-based biotech company AUM Biosciences. Thecompany has since announced two major pharma clinical collaborations using themolecule in combination with immunotherapy for solid tumours. D3 would later merge withthe Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC) and Experimental Biotherapeutics Centre(EBC) to form the Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC).

As co-Chair of the EDDC Governing Board, Professor Chin has been instrumental inhelping EDDC bridge the drug development gap in Singapore, attract researchinvestments and catalyse the biopharma ecosystem. Under his leadership, EDDC rapidlyincreased its portfolio, close deals, supported biotech startups and licensed severaltechnologies to pharmaceutical companies.

Professor Chin has been a tireless advocate for the creation of a vibrant biotherapeuticscommunity within Singapore, and has played a pivotal role in the development ofSingapore’s health and biomedical sciences landscape and capabilities.