Roche picks S'pore for new centre

Drug giant to sink in 100m for Asian research here.

JUST a month after it opened a $500 million manufacturing plant here, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche has decided to locate some of its research work for Asia here as well.

It is sinking in another $100 million to do what is known as translational research, which looks at, for example, how the different ways drugs conceived in the laboratory can better benefit patients.

Neither Roche nor the Economic Development Board will comment but it is understood it is eyeing premises at Outram campus, close to Singapore General Hospital and the eye, heart and cancer centres.

Roche's decision was hailed by doctors as a coup for Singapore and a validation of its work in biomedical science. Roche had also been considering Shanghai as a location.

Most investments by pharmaceutical companies here are in basic research to create new drugs or in manufacturing them. Biomedical manufacturing output here topped $19 billion last year.

Roche's presence will plug a big gap, bringing research drugs from the bench to the bedside, so to speak.

Mr Philip Yeo, chairman of Spring Singapore and the man behind the big biomedical move here, said as much in the current edition of the Singapore Medical Association's journal.

Mr Yco said he has shifted the focus from pure science to science based medicine. "Our healthcare should not merely be about treatment delivery alone it should be backed by research," he said.

"The key is clinical science. There should be laboratories in the hospitals where doctors and scientists can go and work together."

Roche is expected to place 50 high-level researchers here, who can be expected to do clinical trials on Asian patients.

The Straits Times understands that one of the first medicines to be studied at the hub will be Avastin, Roche's blockbuster cancer drug. It is one of two drugs that will be manufactured at Roche's plant in Tuas.

Last year, this one drug, which can treat different cancers including colorectal, lung and breast cancers, raked in US$2.9 billion (S$4 billion). Sales are expected to more than triple in the next five years.

The drug works by "starving" cancer cells of the nutrients and oxygen they need to multiply. While it is a miracle drug for some patients, it scarcely has an effect on others.

A possible translational research subject would be to see what sort of patient it works best on. Given the high cost of cancer medicine and the side effects of any cancer treatment, being able to pinpoint patients who will definitely benefit wouldLbe a phenomenal step.

A senior oncologist here is excited at the prospect of working with a top pharmaceutical company conducting research here. They bring tremendous discipline in how they run clinical trials he said. "They dot the Is and cross the Ts in how they store tissue or collect data when doing clinical trials."

salma@sph.com.sg