Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Dr Koh Poh Koon’s visit to GIS

Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry- Dr Koh Poh Koon and Senior Parliamentary Secretary- Dr Tan Wu Meng visited A*STAR’s Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) on Friday (6 July 2018) to see how A*STAR has played a key role in fostering the growth of the local biotech ecosystem through a variety of ways- including nurturing start-ups; spinning off companies; working with industry on joint research and co-development projects; transferring talent to companies; and licensing IP.

During the visit- SMS Koh and SPS Tan were briefed on how Biopolis has played the role of an incubator and accelerator for biotech start-ups- resulting in the local biotech ecosystem gaining good momentum. This vibrant community of biotechs is developing a strong pipeline of therapeutics and diagnostics- complemented by A*STAR’s deep research capabilities. SMS Koh and SPS Tan toured research facilities and joint laboratories located at GIS that were established by A*STAR together with companies like PerkinElmer- NovogeneAIT- and biotech start-up One BioMed. An A*STAR spinoff- One BioMed specialises in molecular diagnostics and is working with A*STAR’s GIS to develop a simple- rapid- cost-effective test kit to diagnose infectious diseases such as drug resistant tuberculosis and mosquito-borne illnesses in a quick and reliable manner. The company was founded by Dr Park Mi Kyoung- formerly a scientist from A*STAR’s Institute of Microelectronicsis- and is a good example of how the rapid growth of the local biotech ecosystem helps position Singapore as a hub for biomedical sciences in Asia.