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Manufacturing Excellence
July 06, 2011

 

 

 

GSK and EDB award S$8 million for research in green and sustainable manufacturing
Close to S$8 million in research funding was presented to 14 principal investigators under the GSK-Singapore Partnership for Green and Sustainable Manufacturing (GSM). This was the second round of projects to be awarded research funding under the S$33 million GSK-Singapore Partnership for Green & Sustainable Manufacturing and the principal investigators will be conducting research in the areas of chemical-, physical- and bio-transformations, facilities and supply chain, equipment and technical operations, life cycle assessment, and solvent selection and optimisation.

 

 

Lonza to expand biopharma development services in Singapore
In June 2011, Lonza invested CHF 10 million to expand its biopharmaceutical development services platform in Singapore. Lonza's Development Services business, the front-end of the biological mammalian custom manufacturing process, offers customized and innovative services used in the development of robust biomanufacturing processes. The expansion in Singapore will consist of the addition of 1858 m² of state-of-the-art laboratory space and associated equipment, and will support cell line construction, upstream and downstream process development, and a broad range of analytical services.


The facility is expected to come on-line in the first half of 2012. It will integrate seamlessly with Lonza's biological manufacturing facility in Singapore, creating a full-service biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing site that offers customers a complete range of services from development through pre-clinical and small-scale manufacturing, all the way through to large-scale commercial supply.


Besides enhancing Singapore's capabilities in the biologics manufacturing sector, Lonza's decision reflects how Singapore can support global businesses growing in Asia, as their trusted operating base for the region.


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Mesoblast and Lonza establish strategic global manufacturing alliance
In September 2011, global regenerative medicine company Mesoblast and Lonza, a world leader in biologic manufacturing, announced that they had entered into a strategic alliance for clinical and long-term commercial production of Mesoblast's off-the-shelf (allogeneic) adult stem cell products.


Under the agreement, Mesoblast will have exclusive access to Lonza's Cell Therapy facilities in Singapore for the manufacture of allogeneic cell therapy products, subject to certain exceptions.


Mesoblast Chief Executive, Professor Silviu Itescu, said that having access to Lonza's best of breed manufacturing capabilities will give Mesoblast significant commercial advantages globally.


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Roche achieves record time in commencing commercial production
In January 2010, Genentech's microbial-based facility in Singapore was awarded the Facility of the Year Award for Project Execution 2010 by ISPE, INTERPHEX and Pharmaceutical Processing magazine for initiating commencing GMP qualification batches within 24 months from engineering kick-off. In May 2010, the microbial-based facility received FDA approval to commence commercial production of Lucentis within 34 months following construction groundbreaking.


This facility was opened with another mammalian-based facility that Genentech acquired from Lonza in August 2009. The mammalian-based facility manufactures Avastin. Both facilities were officially opened under its parent company, Roche, in November 2009.

 

 

 

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Public-Sector Resources

Pilot-Scale Laboratory Facility
In October 2009, Singapore's Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences (ICES), A*STAR, opened a pilot-scale laboratory facility, called the Kilo Lab, where pharmaceutical companies can carry out evaluation of new recipes and processes before going to full-scale manufacturing. The facility also provides a platform to train and develop a new generation of engineers and chemists in Singapore.

 

 

 
Graduate Diploma in Green Manufacturing
In May 2010, the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech) and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) jointly launched the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) Graduate Diploma in Process Technology (Sustainable Manufacturing) programme. The programme aims to help companies and professionals in the manufacturing sector acquire the expertise to put in place sustainable manufacturing practices. 


Through the new WSQ Graduate Diploma programme, managers, engineers and technical staff in the manufacturing industry will gain critical know-how to address important issues including carbon footprint quantification & reduction, renewable energy & energy efficiency, evaluation and processing of sustainable materials, resource recovery from waste, product eco-design and green supply chain management.

 

 


Energy Efficiency National Partnership
In April 2010, Singapore's three key government agencies – National Environment Agency (NEA), Energy Market Authority (EMA) and Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) launched the Energy Efficiency National Partnership (EENP) programme. The EENP is a significant milestone in Singapore's drive to improve energy efficiency and save on energy costs in the manufacturing sector.


EENP is a voluntary programme that seeks to help companies put in place energy productivity improvement projects at the organisational level to reduce energy wastage. GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer are amongst leading companies that are participating in this programme.


As EENP partners, companies can look forward to preferential rates for EENP learning events and benefit from NEA's various energy efficiency incentive schemes, including the Energy Efficiency Improvement Assistance Scheme and the Grant for Energy Efficient Technologies, to support their energy efficiency initiatives. EENP partners will also be provided with more opportunities to network and participate in benchmarking studies with peers, technical workshops and seminars.  There will also be a recognition scheme held annually for companies that have implemented excellent energy management practices and achieved substantial savings as a result.


EENP Partners will be expected to work towards the adoption of an Energy Management System, where each company will appoint an energy manager, establish objectives and targets, develop energy policies and implement energy efficiency projects to meet these targets. The pharmaceuticals & biotechnology companies have been actively pursuing energy efficiency opportunities. They share among themselves energy goals as well as performance indicators for their energy efficient improvement plans and projects, so as to promote best practices.

 

 

 



Key Incentive Schemes to Promote Energy-Efficient Operations
Singapore's National Environment Agency has introduced several incentive schemes to promote energy-efficiency in business operations.

 


Key schemes include:

  • Design for Efficiency Scheme (DfE) that seeks to encourage companies to integrate energy and resource efficiency improvements when designing new manufacturing facilities.
  • Grant for Energy Efficient Technologies (GREET) that seeks to encourage companies to invest in energy efficient equipment or technologies.


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Last updated:28 January 2012
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