The launch of the drug facility cost US$130 million (S$175 million).
According to a ministry representative, the new facility is important because “it enables end-to-end manufacturing of vaccines and biologics in Singapore and contributes to the region’s resilience.”
“By closing the loop on vaccine manufacturing locally, this new facility will complement recent investments by other healthcare and pharmaceutical companies. According to a ministry representative, addressing upcoming health issues will help Singapore and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
The American company’s new facility features a fast, fully automated aseptic fill-finish line.
The drug product, container, and container closure are all sterilized individually in this procedure before being combined. Singapore did not have a single facility producing finished vaccines before the Covid-19 outbreak.
But during the past two and a half years, five pharmaceutical companies have committed to establishing plants here to produce more than a billion doses of finished vaccines yearly, making Singapore an emerging biomedical hub in the Asia-Pacific region.
According to a ministry representative, Singapore is in a stronger position to better harness science and innovation for when the country may need to cope with the following health crisis after the lessons learned from the Covid-19 outbreak. “One lesson learned is how important it is to build and maintain supply chain resilience,” he added.
Along with the company’s end-to-end pharmaceutical development and manufacturing services, the drug facility will provide rapid vaccine fill-finish capabilities as part of the government’s commitment to be prepared for future health emergencies.
According to a ministry representative, Singapore’s long-standing partnership with the drug company shows the country’s commitment to building a robust life science ecosystem.
