GSK’s first foray into Singapore was the construction of a world-class facility antibiotic manufacturing plant on a five-hectare site. Costing over S$32 million, it produced a range of newly discovered semi-synthetic penicillin.
Over time, the site has become GSK’s single source of amoxicillin – the active compound used to manufacture the group’s antibiotics that are widely prescribed for the treatment of bacterial infections.
In 2012, GSK committed S$60 million to expand this plant, followed by an additional S$77 million (£38M) of funding in 2015 to construct an additional downstream isolation facility that boosted production by 50% to meet surging antibiotics demand in emerging markets.
GSK has two other plants in Singapore. One is a S$510 million, primary vaccine manufacturing site in Tuas, which was the first of its kind outside Belgium when it was opened in June 2009. Another facility, located in Jurong, manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients used in a variety of GSK prescription medicines. The latter, with its award-winning sustainable processes and green technologies, is one of the world’s most advanced manufacturing facilities piloting new processes that will change the way medicines are made at GSK.
In October 2017, the group opened its new headquarters for Asia in Singapore, which oversees its Global Established Products, Nutrition and Pain Management teams. GSK Asia House will also house its corporate and commercial offices for the Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Healthcare businesses in the Asia Pacific, as well as the regional leadership team for its ViiV Healthcare subsidiary.