THE
BIOSINGAPORE
BULLETIN
April 2013
Networking PLUS APRIL 2013
This month BioSingapore proudly invites Dr. Jonathan Obaje
from URAH Transdermal to provide the BioSingapore
community with an up-to-date clinical review of
glucosamine as a chondro-protective agent and highlight
the relationship between efficacy of delivery and therapeutic
benefit of glucosamine.
Date
Wednesday 24th April 2013 from 6.30pm – late
Venue
B @ Rochester
8 Rochester Park
Singapore 139219*
(Between Science Parks /NUS and Biopolis)
The event is $30 to Members and $40 for non-members which include two drinks (draft
beer, wine or soft drinks) and some great finger-foods by "B". Individual membership can
be paid at the door or online at www.BioSingapore.org.sg by PayPal.
If you take an individual membership, your money will be returned if your company enrols
as a Corporate Member during the same financial year.
BioSingapore would like to thank the following companies for
their support as our corporate members:
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
ASIA BIOTECH INVEST 2013
With Asian countries rapidly emerging as drivers of
growth in both research as well as investment in
biotechnology, Asia is the place to be to find new
biotech projects, partners and investors.
Date: 3 – 5 June 2013
Place: Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Hong Kong
Registration & Fee required
Note: 10% discount for BioSingapore members upon
registration.
STRATEGIC PHARMA MARKETING ASIA
35% of global pharma growth will be driven by Asia
over the next 5 years (IMS, 2011). As the purchasing
power of Asians increase, gaining entry to this complex
region is not an easy task. Each country has its own
unique culture and local understanding is vital in
achieving success in sales and marketing of products.
Date: 1 – 4 July 2013
Registration & Fee required
Note: 20% discount for BioSingapore members upon
registration.
PHARMACEUTICAL REGULATORY SUMMIT
35% of global pharma growth will be driven by Asia
over the next 5 years (IMS, 2011). As the purchasing
power of Asians increase, gaining entry to this complex
region is not an easy task. Each country has its own
unique culture and local understanding is vital in
achieving success in sales and marketing of products.
Date: 27 – 30 August 2013
Note: 20% discount for BioSingapore members upon
registration.
Johnson & Johnson
Newsletter 1
“Opportunities in the Biomedical Sciences sector in China”
th
The “Opportunities in the Biomedical Sciences sector in China” event was held on 20 March at the Quintiles Singapore Office
with over 80 participants from BioSingapore & the Chinese delegation. The event started with an opening address by
BioSingapore’s Chairman, Mr. Simranjit Singh. He spoke about the mega trends in the healthcare industry in China and its
future opportunities. The key drivers of growth for China’s healthcare industry are its rapid urbanization, changing population
demographics, new business models with a strong focus on “Value for Many”, high adoption of technology (doctors in China
spend the on average 5 hours daily on the internet for knowledge gathering & CME) & a strong focus on “healthcare” rather
than “sickcare”.
The session then continued with Mr. Yang Yihang, Deputy Director General of the China Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA)
introducing the Chinese delegates which included eminent government officials such as Mr. Lei Ming, Vice Mayor of Tianshui
province & Mr Liu Kai, Deputy Director of Life Sciences at CIPA. Senior management of prominent Chinese pharma companies
such as Simcere (listed on NYSE), Haofeng group were also in attendance. CIPA’s core focus is to invite Foreign Direct
Investments (FDIs) into China as well as support Chinese companies to partner overseas.
Having a key focus in the life sciences industry, CIPA offers attractive opportunities through technology transfer & incentives
to set up operations in the various science parks in China as well as business matching services with various Chinese pharma &
medtech companies. They are also able to assist in finding talent & business advisory. CIPA is in the midst of setting up the
“Chinese Dream fund” to further support the growth of the Lifesciences industry in China.
The highlight of the evening was the panel discussion with representatives from Quintiles, Mr. Ross Horsburgh, Deputy CEO
Asia Markets, Ms Tan Lai Lee, VP Project Management Asia, Ms Jenny Zhang VP Central Labs Asia & CIPA executives, Mr Yang
Yihang & Mr Liu Kai that covered questions ranging from the R&D landscape in China to the support available for Singaporean
SMEs looking to enter China.
The fantastic evening ended with wine, beer & food coupled with lots of networking opportunities.
BioSpectrum Awards 2013
The fifth BioSpectrum Asia Pacific Awards 2013 were given away at a glittering ceremony at Hotel Fort Canning, Singapore, on
March 15, 2013. Industry leaders and heads of companies from the Asia Pacific life sciences industry were present on the
occasion.
Eight start-ups in the bioscience industry across Asia Pacific were identified as the BioSpectrum Asia Pacific
Emerging Companies of the Year 2013.
The companies are:
AseaCyte, Malaysia
Biomics Biotechnologies, China
Novo Informatics, India
Shanghai BravoBio, China
Vaxxas, Australia
VeriStem Technologies, Singapore
VolitionRx, Singapore
XCode Life Sciences, India
While the BioSpectrum Asia Pacific Emerging Companies of the Year awards are Editor's Choice Awards, the other winners are
selected by the industry-jury constituted by the publication. BioSpectrum Asia Pacific Awards 2013 jury comprised Dr Chia-Lin
Jeff Wang, president, Development Center for Biotechnology, Taiwan; Dr John Ballard, co founder-director, BioAngels,
Australia; Ms Samantha Su, Director, Services and Biomedical Cluster, Industry Development, SPRING Singapore; Mr Ganesh
Kishore, managing director, Burrill & Company, Malaysia; Mr Jong-il Hong, vice president, KoreaBio, Korea; Dr P M Murali, MD
& CEO, Evolva Biotech & president, Association of Biotechnology-Led Enterprises, India; and Mr Narayanan Suresh, chief
editor, BioSpectrum Asia, CyberMedia, India.
BioSingapore applauds the efforts of BioSpectrum Asia as the only Asian based BioSciences industry trade magazine and are
proud to be the Official Partners for the BioSpectrum Asia Awards 2013.
BioSingapore in the News
How are patent laws
leading to the
harmonizing effect?
by Yvette Flannigan
There have been recent changes to the US patent
laws that have brought the US laws closer to those
of the rest-of-the-world. You may have heard about
some of them such as, changing the first to invent
system to a first-to-file system. This is allowing
companies to file patent application rather than
requiring the inventors to first file the patent
application and then have the inventors assign the
application to the company.
TOP STORIES
MedTech firm TriReme
expands distribution in
China
Singapore: Singapore-based TriReme Medical has
signed a distribution agreement with Weihai Weigao
Medical Devices for the distribution of its products in
China. Weigao will act as TriReme's master distributor
by selling TriReme products directly to hospitals as well
as connecting TriReme products into its vast
nationwide distribution network.
Glivec inventor wins
Szent-Györgyi Prize
Singapore: Professor Alex Matter, CEO, Experimental
Therapeutics Centre (ETC), A*STAR, Singapore, has
been awarded the 8th Annual Szent-Györgyi Prize for
Progress in Cancer Research by the National
Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) for his
contributions to the development of the first drug
specifically targeting a molecular lesion in cancer.