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Singapore

Collaboration of the Two Giants— A*STAR and RIKEN

* S TA R a n d R I K E N h ave s i g n e d a m e m o ra n d u m o f u n d e r s t a n d i n g ( M O U ) creating opportunities for collaboration between the two countries in the fields Aof biomedical science and biotechnology. RIKEN and A*STAR are planning to conduct research together mostly in the life sciences and biotechnology. The Singapore base for this research will be the Biopolis, Singapore. RIKEN will set up an office in the Biopolis by the end of 2005. U n d e r t h e M o U , t h e r e w i l l b e e x cha n g e o f r e s e a rche r s a n d s t a f f ; e x cha n g e o f scientific and technological information, including delivering of lectures and holding joint seminars and symposia; exchange of scientific and technological research materials; joint research and development; and sharing of best practices in intellectual property management and technology transfer. Over the past few months, study teams from A*STAR have been visiting RIKEN to explore joint research areas and three key areas have been identified for possible collaboration: i) Cancer: Structur al analysis and drug dev elopment related to cancer transcription factors. ii) Infectious diseases: Screening and rapid diagnosis for known and unknown environmental pathogens. iii) Neuroscience: Training of promising young neuroscientists from Singapore at RIKEN. “Singapore is a vital partner for Japan in tackling problems specific to Asia (the e nvi r o n m e n t , d i s e a s e s p a r t i c u l a r t o t h e r e g i o n , e t c . ) . I b e l i e ve t h a t t e chn o l o g i c a l l y and socially it has a variety of strong points in Asia. A*STAR has medical, chemical a n d e n g i n e e r i n g r e s e a rch i n s t i t u t e s a n d t h e B i o p o l i s p l a n . I b e l i e ve t h a t t h e r e a r e thus many areas of research on which RIKEN and A*STAR can collaborate. For now we are examining possible collaboration on research related to cancer, research on environmental pathogens and the development of diagnostic methods for them, and accommodating young researchers from Singapore at RIKEN and giving them training in neuroscience. I hope that RIKEN can make large contributions to the nurturing of the next generation of scientists in these fields in Asia. This will have great significance for the future. I believe we should take this opportunity to consider even more multi-faceted collaborations in the Asian region,” said Professor Ryoji Noyori, President of RIKEN. He also mentioned that Singapore and Japan’s divergent approaches to science will be complementary. He regards Singapore as a vital partner for Japan in tackling problems specific to Asia.

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About RIKEN RIKEN (Rikagaku Kenkyuusho, which translates into "Institute of Physical and Chemical Research" although it now also conducts research in biology and other fields) is a network of public research institutes supported by the Japanese government. Founded in 1917, it is one of Japan's largest and oldest institutes for science and technology and has approximately 3000 scientists on seven campuses across Japan, the main one being in Wako, just outside Tokyo. RIKEN conducts research in all areas of science, including physics, chemistry, biology, medical science, engineering and computational science, and ranging from basic research to practical applications. Two RIKEN scientists, Hideki Yukawa and Shinichiro Tomonaga, won the Nobel Prize in Physics, in 1949 and 1965, respectively, and its current President, Ryoji Noyori, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001.

About the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is Singapore's lead agency for scientific R&D. Its mission is to foster world-class scientific research and talent for a vibrant knowledge-based Singapore. Headquartered in the state-of-the art biomedical research hub Biopolis, A*STAR has two research councils—the Biomedical Research Council and the Science and Engineering Research Council, through which it funds and oversees 12 public research institutes in specialized areas of research, such as bioprocessing, chemical synthesis, genomics & proteomics, molecular & cell biology, bioengineering & nanotechnology, computational biology, electronics, infocomms, chemicals and precision engineering, translational research and bioimaging. Nobel laureate Dr Sydney Brenner is Chairman of A*STAR’s Biomedical Research Council.

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Duke’s Perspective—The New Graduate Medical School in Singapore

t is a tiny city-state, only about three and a half times the size of Washington D.C. It is halfway around the world from Duke University (12 hours difference in time Izones). It is where Asian students will soon be able to benefit from the unique curriculum of Duke University School of Medicine. The official signing of an agreement for Singapore and Duke University to collaborate to create the a Graduate Medical School (GMS) in that country took place in April 2005. Since then, several Duke faculty members have made the long trip over the Pacific to help organize this new venture. R. Sanders Williams, M.D., dean of Duke University School of Medicine, recently returned from a two week stay in Singapore. Dean Williams is glowing with enthusiasm. “I have to admit that when I first heard that Duke wanted to have a major project in Singapore, I was dubious,” said Dean William. “I wondered how in the world could we maintain a serious program halfway around the world when there are so many important things to do here.” “That was three years ago. But then I met some of the remarkable people involved. I visited and saw the inner workings of the society. I got to know the key players. I went from being highly skeptical to highly enthusiastic. I have become a true believer that this is in Duke’s best interest. The Singapore GMS will be the first medical school in Singapore based on the U.S. model of students studying medicine after completing a bachelor’s degree. The existing medical school in Singapore follows the British model where students begin studying medicine after specializing in the sciences in high school,” Dean Williams explained. “This partnership between Duke and Singapore is unique,” says Dean Williams. “It is not simply a partnership between two schools, Duke and the National University of Singapore, with which the GMS will be affiliated to. It has the direct backing of the government as part of a national strategy.” Singapore is determined to be an international leader in biotechnology. Five years ago, the government recognized that to meet this goal, Singapore needed more physicians who were trained as scientists, as well as more physicians. The recommendation was to do this by adopting the U.S. model of medical education. “If training physician-scientists is what you are after, the Duke curriculum, with its jewel of a third year dedicated to research, is ideal,” said Williams. Exciting as setting up a new school in Singapore may sound, Duke is doing this only after careful consideration of the benefits.

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Global Presence “This partnership represents not only a platform to impact medical education in Asia, but an opportunity for Duke to expand its global presence in science and medicine,” says Victor J. Dzau, M.D., chancellor for Health Affairs at Duke University. That is important because it is increasingly clear that health and medicine are no longer constrained by national or continental boundaries.

Intellectual Stimulation “I am confident that the GMS will provide opportunities for interaction among the best intellectual minds”, says Tony Tan, Ph.D., chairman of the National Research Foundation in Singapore and one of the government officials who serves on the GMS Governing Board.

Opportunities to Advance Science “Singapore has made a vast commitment to becoming a leader in biomedical research. The opportunity to form collaborations in this environment will help us accelerate our efforts in the area of transnlational research, which is a strategic priority for Duke Medicine,” ays Dzau.

Resources “The government of Singapore is investing over 300 million dollars in this project,” says Dean Williams. “Much of that will support research which will be done by Duke faculty affiliated with the GMS in Singapore. Other research will involve collaborations between the GMS and Duke. We won’t be shipping the dollars back from Singapore for this research, but we will expect to ship some of the credit, “ he continued.

Recruitment Edge “There is no doubt in my mind that this will be a multiplier for our ability to recruit excellent faculty,” says Pascal Goldschmidt, M.D., chair of the Duke Department of Medicine. There are very few other schools that will be able to offer opportunities for faculty that specifically include a deployment to two countries.

New Ideas “I have been very impressed with Singapore’s healthcare delivery system”, says Dean Williams. “It is very intelligently done, from how they design their clinical systems to how they flow patients through the hospitals. I think we can learn from them”.

More Growth Opportunities As a consequence of our relations with Singapore, we have also started negotiations with other groups in China and elsewhere to expand upon this network of education and medical care, says Goldschmidt. Singapore is the beginning of the opportunity to bring Duke Medicine to an area of the world that will have a major impact during the 21st century.

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Dean Williams does not make light of the work that it will take to export the Duke experience to Singapore especially since he will bear much of the burden. He has agreed to be the interim dean for the school in Singapore. He will make the grueling 27-hour trip to Singapore three to four times over the next year to oversee the groundwork for the school. “Becoming dean was not a decision I took lightly,” he says. “I did it only after careful consideration with both the chancellor and the president of the university, with a full understanding of how important this venture is to Duke,” he continued. Patrick Casey, M.D., James B. Duke Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, has packed up his family and moved to Singapore to be vice dean of research and Duke’s primary representative in Singapore when Williams is not there. “I felt this is a unique opportunity to help create something very special,” Casey says. “We are very much in a building phase right now. We need to establish an administration and infrastructure for research and medical education. We need to recruit faculty. In 2006, we will be going through a complete admissions process so that we can matriculate our first class in 2007.” Creating a new school from scratch is no small job, and, like any growing family, new roles take a while to get used to. “I know that there has been some concern about whether I can manage to be dean of both the GMS in Singapore and the School of Medicine at Duke,” says Williams. But I am confident that, at least for this initial stage, this structure can work. His confidence comes because of the people he works with. “The team of vice deans we have put together here at Duke over the last years is the key to how this will work,” he says. “Each of these highly capable individuals: Scott Gibson, Ed Halperin, Ross McKinney, Gordon Williams, and Jo Rae Wright, are ready to accept a higher level of decision-making authority, and have already begun to do so”. In the end, a successful relationship between Duke and Singapore—whether between faculty, administrators, or students, will be much like any other healthcare relationship: it will depend heavily on trust, transparency, good communication, and shared values. That is why Dzau is confident the Singapore school will succeed. “This school, like Duke, will have as its premise the value of true scientific inquiry and discovery and the importance of translation into practices that affect the healthcare of people around the globe,” he says. “Improving health: that is what Duke is about.”

This article is contributed by Marsha Green from Duke University medical Center (DUMC).

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Singapore Singapore Life Sciences Sector Benefits from India’s Patent Laws

ndia’s improved pharmaceutical patent laws have given a boost to Singapore’s life sciences industry. They could also be a key source of future growth. According to ITNT, a specialist provider of life sciences logistics, clinical trial shipments from India to Singapore have tripled in the past eight months, since India undertook reforms at the beginning of 2005 to meet the deadlines set by World Trade Organization’s (WTO). TNT revealed these findings at “Drug Discovery to Clinical Trials”, a life sciences industry event held in Mumbai, India recently. According to TNT, India has now overtaken Japan as the largest source of biomedical consignments to Singapore compared to any other market in Asia Pacific. TNT expects the India-Singapore shipments to grow by another 300 per cent by the end of 2005. Currently, TNT has more than 20 per cent market share, and moves 200 domestic and 100 international clinical trial samples a day. “ I n d i a ’s o u t s o u rce d c l i n i c a l t r i a l s i n d u s t r y i s a m o n g t h e f a s t e s t g r owi n g s e c t o r s of its established US$5 billion a year pharmaceutical industry. Clinical trial logistics alone is worth US$9.6 million and within TNT India, we are expecting more than 50 per cent year-on-year growth rate,” said Mr. Ni Sheng Jie, General Manager, TNT Life Sciences. “ S i n g a p o r e s t a n d s t o g a i n s o m e 7 0 p e r c e n t o f t h e o u t s o u rc e d c l i n i c a l t r i a l s businesses, mainly due to the large number of established central laboratories based locally,” he added. An estimated 70 per cent of outsourced clinical trials conducted in Asia are sent to central laboratories based in Singapore for testing in order to ensure greater consistency across different test sites. India is the world’s fourth largest drug market in terms of volume and the improved regulatory environment is expected to encourage more outsourced clinical trials in the country. “ I n d i a i s e x t r e m e l y w e l l p l a c e d t o c a p i t a l i z e o n o u t s o u rce d c l i n i c a l t r i a l s . Th e country has over 500,000 doctors, some 16,000 hospitals, and thousands of qualified nurses and chemists. The country also has the benefit of a large patient pool and genetic diversity. These conditions essential to clinical trials are now accessible to clinical research organizations and pharmaceutical firms. The widespread use of English making it easy for communication and transmitting data, and further enhanced it as the location of choice,” added Ni Sheng Jie. Today, consignments from India to Singapore constitute some 35 per cent of TNT’s overall biomedical shipments, a figure TNT expects will continue to grow further with the relaxation of patent laws and the recently signed Singapore-India Free Trade Agreement. Singapore-India trade is US$7 billion in 2004, which is almost half of total Asean-India trade of US$15 billion.

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