The Asia Corner - From the Editors of PharmAsia News March 24, 2009
In this BioPharma Today feature, the editors of PharmAsia News take a closer look each week at the most important biopharma developments from China, India, Japan, and the Pacific Rim. Read today's features...
The Asia Corner - From the Editors of PharmAsia News March 24, 2009
Read today's features...
SINGAPORE – Some of the PharmAsia News team just wrapped up a productive week in Singapore covering BioMedical Asia. If there was one recurring theme in Singapore – aside from the delicious food – and in conversation with multinationals that maintain operations at Singapore’s research and development park Biopolis, it was “affordable healthcare.” Big pharma is looking to reduce development costs while small biotechs look for complementary partners as venture funds dry up.
The Singapore government is offering companies incentives to draw them to the country, including providing services for operating at Biopolis or venture funding through Singapore’s venture capital investment arm Bio*One Capital, and in doing so is helping decrease the gap between early-stage research and proof-of-concept (PharmAsia News, March 23, 2009).
Meanwhile, Hong Kong is sitting on untapped reserves of novel research and intellectual property due to a lack of proper funding. Universities are developing interesting technology, but the government – unlike in Taiwan and Singapore – has yet to draw top investors to help translate academic research to product commercialization (PharmAsia News, March 23, 2009).
In South Korea, the University of Utah and South Korea’s Inha University finalized an agreement to create a joint pharmaceutical research and development center in Incheon. The joint center will initially focus on drug delivery systems, especially for cancer and pain management (PharmAsia News, March 19, 2009).
GlaxoSmithKline launched vaccine Cerverix in India for the prevention of pre-malignant cervical lesions and cervical cancer related to human pappilomavirus. After a drawn-out registration and approval process, GSK launched Cerverix six months after Merck brought Gardasil to India (PharmAsia News, March 19, 2009).
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