SINGAPORE: US biopharmaceutical company AbbVie on Wednesday (Oct 4) opened a biologics manufacturing facility within its plant located at the Tuas Biomedical Park.
Biologics are commercial products, such as vaccines, derived from biotechnology.
The opening marked the completion of AbbVie’s S$400 million plant at Tuas – its first manufacturing plant in Asia that was officially opened last September.
The 120,000-sq m plant is also home to a small molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) facility, which is already up and running. Together, the two facilities will create 250 jobs in various roles, such as supply chain management, technical operations and manufacturing.
AbbVie’s global manufacturing facility in Singapore. (Photo: AbbVie)
The Singapore site is the only site in AbbVie’s global manufacturing network to house both API and biologics manufacturing capabilities.
AbbVie, which manufactures therapies for oncology and immunology treatment, currently employs about 400 workers in Singapore. Apart from the manufacturing plant, it has about 150 employees at its Asia-Pacific commercial headquarters located at Buona Vista.
CHANGING HEALTHCARE PARADIGMS
Speaking at the launch, Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S Iswaran said the new biologics manufacturing facility comes at an “opportune moment” when ageing populations, growing healthcare demand and technological changes are changing healthcare paradigms.
“While these shifts will disrupt existing business models, they also present significant new opportunities,” Mr Iswaran said, adding that Singapore will continue to invest in innovation and work closely with the industry to strengthen the country’s competitiveness.
For one, the Government will invest S$4 billion in health and biomedical sciences, as well as another S$3.2 billion in advanced manufacturing and engineering under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2020 plan.
“A strategic goal of RIE 2020 is to strengthen linkages between public research performers and private enterprises to create greater value from our investments in R&D,” he said.
The Government also remains committed to training and up-skilling the local workforce, added Mr Iswaran, referring to the Professional Conversion Programme for the pharmaceutical and biologics sectors.
More than 350 individuals have benefited from the programme jointly developed by Workforce Singapore and the Singapore Economic Development Board since 2014, he said.
