GSK, Sanofi, and Takeda Partner With Singapore to Boost Biologics Innovation

GSK, Sanofi, and Takeda announced a partnership with Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR) and various Singapore universities on Dec. 6, 2022. The goal of this partnership, formalized through the Biologics Pharma Innovation Programme Singapore (BioPIPS), is to boost Singapore's biologics manufacturing capabilities, including recombinant therapeutic proteins and vaccines.

According to an agency press release, the partnership will bring together the companies and Singaporean researchers to enhance manufacturing productivity, improve operational efficiency, and reach sustainability goals. It will be composed of three workstreams:

• The Sensing and Modelling workstream, focused on machine learning and mechanistic workflows to enable simplified and faster workflows,
• The Sustainability workstream, focused on tackling sustainability challenges in biologics and vaccines manufacturing via exploration of novel materials, circular economy approaches, and models promoting more sustainable and resilient supply chains,
• The Compliant Agility workstream, focused on removing manual tasks to improve productivity while retaining compliance.

“New opportunities will emerge as the biomanufacturing industry undergoes major changes brought about by the rapid pace of digitalization, Industry 4.0, and the need for greater sustainability,” said Lim Keng Hui, assistant chief executive, Science and Engineering Research Council, A*STAR, in the release. “As Singapore makes biopharma production a priority area in its Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 Plan, A*STAR aims to contribute our R&D capabilities through BioPIPS to help make the local biomanufacturing industry become more agile and better positioned to benefit from new products and technologies.”

“The objectives of BioPIPS are aligned to Takeda’s ambitions of being net carbon zero in our operations by 2035 and how we can tap on data, digital and technology to transform our manufacturing site. We look forward to this partnership with Singapore’s research ecosystem to further strengthen our capabilities and discover new and sustainable ways to develop and manufacture innovative medicine to deliver on Takeda’s commitment to Patient, People and Planet,” said George Lam, site head, Takeda Manufacturing Singapore, in the release.

Source: A*STAR