In November, the world’s largest biotech company, Roche, opened its first Asia-Pacific biologics manufacturing site in Tuas Biomedical Park, Singapore.

With a combined investment of about US$500 million (S$695 million), the 12.6-hectare manufacturing site comprises two state-of-the-art facilities. The first microbial-cell facility will manufacture Lucentis, which is  used to treat patients with age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in people over 55. The second mammalian-cell facility will manufacture Avastin, a targeted cancer therapy with proven survival benefits against multiple cancer tumours.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dr Franz B. Humer, Chairman, Roche, said, “This world-class operation in Singapore will – as a cornerstone of our global manufacturing network – support us in accomplishing our mission of helping people live better lives through our novel medicines. It will play an important role in building Roche’s presence in Asia-Pacific, and will join a strong network of manufacturing excellence and expertise with more biotech production capacity of any company worldwide.”