Singapore’s biomedical sciences industry and medical technology sectors are drawing big investments from the industry’s leading players with over 30 international medical companies situating regional and international headquarters as well as R&D activities here.

Recently, American medical technology giant Medtronic established its new international headquarters in Singapore to manage its global operations outside the United States. It also opened an S$80m manufacturing facility to leverage on Singapore’s highly skilled manpower.

Specialising in the treatment of cardiac and vascular diseases with pacemakers, defibrillators, and a range of other products, Medtronic is the world leader in its field. From 2011, the Singapore facility will produce cardiac pacemakers and leads for worldwide markets.

Singapore’s workforce is consistently ranked top amongst the world’s most competitive nations (BERI – Business Environment Risk Intelligence). Dr Francois Monory, Vice President of Medtronic’s CRDM Operations says, “Talent availability was one of the most important factors; we needed to find operators, technicians, engineers and senior leadership in many areas.”

Equally critical were Singapore’s positive investment climate, strong intellectual property laws, and manpower policies, especially the Singapore Workforce Development Agency’s commitment to ensure that companies like Medtronic have the right talent to meet their business needs.

Medtronic aims to hire and train over 100 skilled staff in phases over the next two years, with an emphasis on Singaporean talent. They will manufacture about 100,000 pacemakers a year from Medtronic Singapore’s plant. This will boost its global production of heart-related medical devices by 15 per cent, with the impact on patients all over the world.

Singapore will be used as a springboard for the rest of the region, says Monory. “Having people who understand those markets and the specific needs of each market are critical to our success in order to best serve our customers.”

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), which has had a presence in Singapore since 1959, chose Singapore as the site for its first primary vaccine plant in Asia. It represents GSK’s biggest investment in Asia, underlining its deep commitment to Singapore. The S$600m vaccine plant was opened in June 2009, coinciding with the company’s 50th anniversary in Singapore. GSK uses state-of-the-art biotechnology and taps on the collaborative synergy of the workforce to spur innovation and manufacture GSK’s vaccines against diseases such as meningitis and typhoid.

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Along with GSK’s local pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare operations, Singapore also serves as the headquarters for GSK’s Asia Pacific operations and has two global manufacturing and supply sites in the Republic totaling over 1,000 employees and investments that exceed S$1.5 billion.

GSK chose Singapore because it offers pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies certain advantages including a highly educated and innovative workforce as well as tailored training programmes.

Says Christophe Weber, Senior Vice President and Regional Director of GSK Asia Pacific, “I think Singaporeans have very clear strengths; they are very dedicated, reliable and well-educated. The work ethic is very high.”

There are other factors involved but talent remains key. “Singapore has always been very attractive for us. It’s a place where you can find very good talent and highly qualified people. In Singapore, the environment is very much pro-business, so they are able to help businesses when needed, either to set up an operation or facilitate the operation,” says Weber.

As Asia’s demand for more cost-effective and high-quality healthcare solutions grows, the number of medical technology companies establishing manufacturing and R&D operations in Singapore is a trend that looks set to continue.

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