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Singapore's Multibillion Dollar Gamble

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Singapore's Multibillion Dollar Gamble NEWS FEATURE Singapore’s multibillion dollar gamble How does a country one-fourth the size of Rhode Island with little history in biomedical science become one of the world’s biomedical research giants? The answer: with a pile of money and a large dose of chutzpah. Since 2000, Singapore has dumped more than US$2 billion into developing a biomedical research industry—from scratch. Is the gamble paying off? A matter of life and death plan masterminded by Yeo and hashed Science is a notorious example of what out in an all-night session with three of economists call “increasing returns to Singapore’s top doctors, Tan Chorh scale”—groups of productive people Chuan, then Dean of Medicine at the feed off each other to create something National University of Singapore (NUS), that is more than the sum of its parts. and oncologists John Wong and Kong The reverse is also true: isolated indi- Hwai Loong—a group Yeo refers to as viduals will have a hard time generating the “biomedical sciences ‘Gang of 4.’” momentum and are less productive. So Although the idea met with considerable how can you get a new hotbed of skepticism, says Yeo, the government research started in a country with a eventually (and reluctantly) gave him the limited history of biomedical research? green light. The plan was announced in Biopolis, Singapore’s futuristic research hub. In the 40 years since gaining inde- 2000—one day before the unveiling of pendence, Singapore has become one the human genome project—and de- The personnel payoff of the wealthiest nations in the Asia voted nearly US$2 billion over five years Thanks to Yeo’s aggressive recruitment Pacific region. Per capita income, for to the development of public and private efforts, Singapore is now home to a bevy example, has increased an average of sector biomedical research. of acclaimed scientists. Among them are 6.4% per year from 1965 to 2000. Yet For the government, failure of the Sir David Lane, discoverer of the p53 that growth has been driven largely by BMSI is not an option. “When we say tumor suppressor gene, who is serving a manufacturing rather than knowledge- that Singapore is serious about science, two-year stint as the Executive Director based industries. Singapore realized it we are dead serious,” said Second Minis- of the Institute for Molecular and Cell had to make a change. ter for Trade and Industry Vivian Bal- Biology (IMCB), and Edison Liu, former That change came in the late 1990s akrishnau in his opening remarks at an head of the Division of Clinical Sciences with the decision to emphasize knowl- October 2005 Keystone symposium on at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in edge industries, including biomedical stem cells, senescence, and cancer—the the US, who became the Executive science. The decision was spurred in first Keystone meeting to be held outside Director of the Genome Institute of part by the worldwide electronics North America. “For Singapore, success Singapore (GIS) in 2001. slump, which drove jobs in the elec- is a matter of life and death.” Japanese cancer researcher Yoshiaki tronics industry—a mainstay of the Ito, who identified RUNX3 as a tumor country’s economy—to cheaper loca- “When we say that Singapore suppressor gene associated with stomach tions in Asia. And with no natural re- is serious about science, cancer, relocated to the IMCB in 2002— sources to bolster the country’s we are dead serious.” with his entire laboratory staff in tow— economy in times of hardship, Singa- -Vivian Balakrishnau, Second Minister after reaching Japan’s mandatory pore needed other options. “The Sin- for Trade and Industry university retirement age of 63. Also on gapore economy needed to diversify, board is molecular biologist Alan Col- to become like a table with many Yeo immediately set out to lure some man, formerly with PPL Therapeutics— legs,” says Philip Yeo, Chairman of of the world’s best scientists to Singapore. the Scotland-based pharmaceutical Singapore’s Agency for Science, Tech- The idea was that top-tier scientists will company that cloned Dolly the sheep. nology, and Research (A*STAR). help make Singapore a more enticing Colman, who received a S$6 million “The additional leg of biomedical option for the junior faculty, postdocs, grant to relocate to Singapore, is now science would stand us in good stead and students required to get the coopera- chief scientific officer of ES Cell Inter- in riding the next big wave.” tive machinery of science up and run- national, a government-owned biotech This need to diversify spawned the ning. “It’s a circle,” says Kong Peng Lam, company that is developing human em- Biomedical Sciences Initiative (BMSI), a Acting Executive Director of A*STAR’s bryonic stem cells for disease therapy. Biomedical Research Council (BMRC), Nobel laureate Sydney Brenner, a Text by Heather L. Van Epps “If you get the best to come here, they long-time advisor to the Singaporean JEM News Editor; [email protected] will attract the best. It’s like a magnet.” government (he served as Chairman of JEM © The Rockefeller University Press $8.00 1139 Vol. 203, No. 5, May 15, 2006 1139–1142 www.jem.org/cgi/doi/10.1084/jem.20060895 nity to conduct science in a less restric- tive environment than in the US. Indeed, whereas the US NIH frowns upon scientists’ involvement in the private sector, Singapore’s A*STAR does just the opposite. Knowing that successful biotech companies generate both revenue and jobs, the government encourages researchers to apply for patents and, based on those patents, to launch biotech start-up companies— offering three-year leaves of absence and S$150,000 in seed money as incentive. The free-flowing money is also part of Singapore’s allure for younger scien- tists, along with the potential for up- Philip Yeo, Chairman of A*STAR and driving force for Singapore’s biomedical science initiative. ward mobility. “Because we are at ground zero,” says Lam, “there are Singapore’s Scientific Advisory Board since Singapore gained independence. many opportunities [for young scien- from 1987 to 1997), is now Chairman of But for those already in Singapore, tists] and many positions available.” the BMRC. Brenner splits his time be- the scientific bounty clearly outweighed A good example of this upward tween Singapore and the Salk Institute the cultural drawbacks. And with re- mobility is Thomas Dick, Head of the for Biological Studies in San Diego. searchers in the US and Europe com- tuberculosis group at the Novartis In- If you ask what attracted these scien- plaining that funding is becoming stitute for Tropical Diseases, who tific heavy hitters to Singapore—a coun- increasingly difficult to secure, the stellar moved to Singapore in 1990 when try with a steamy climate, authoritarian reports from Singapore’s expats—along biomedical research was still in its in- government and a notoriously Draconian with the no-strings-attached money given fancy. Fresh out of graduate school at penal code—you’re likely to get a variety to new principal investigators (PIs)— the University of Heidelberg, Dick of answers. But the common denomina- might prove too tantalizing to pass up. heard that the newly founded IMCB tor seems to be the “vision of Philip This was true for two of the most was looking for postdoctoral fellows Yeo”—a phrase heard with an almost recent defectors to Singapore: cancer and thought “why not Asia, why not eerie regularity in Singapore. In fact, the geneticists Neal Copeland and Nancy the tropics for a couple of years?” universally glowing reports from Singa- Jenkins, who recently relocated to Singa- Six years later, when the time came pore’s expat scientists (along with pore’s IMCB from the US NCI. In ad- for Dick to venture out on his own, he A*STAR’s apparently strict requirement dition to the funding crunch in the US, questioned whether to stay in Singapore for scientists to obtain permission before the duo cite restrictions on stem cell speaking to the press) leave one wonder- research and frustration with National ing if the picture is a bit too rosy. Institutes of Health’s (NIH) new ethics policy—which forbids NIH employees “If you get the best to from consulting for or holding financial come here, they will attract the best. interests in private companies—as part of It’s like a magnet.” the impetus to end their two-decade- -Kong Peng Lam, Acting Executive long stint at the NCI. Director of the BMRC “It also helps to have a lot of money,” says Copeland. “We didn’t even negoti- But the few complaints one can ate a budget [at IMCB], we just told coax out of Singapore’s imported sci- them how many people and how many entists tend to be cultural rather than mice (thousands of cages)…then sent scientific. The government’s fear of them a list of equipment we needed.” criticism, for example, has dampened The husband-and-wife team—who artistic expression, meaning that Singa- developed a technique to accelerate the pore’s cultural scene doesn’t measure identification of cancer-causing genes in up to that of most cosmopolitan cities. mice—turned down offers from Stanford Others are put off by the lack of politi- University and Memorial Sloan Ketter- cal opposition to the ruling People’s ing Cancer Center in New York, opting Action Party, who have been in power instead for what they saw as an opportu- Microarray facility in Biopolis. 1140 SINGAPORE’S MULTIBILLION DOLLAR GAMBLE | H.L. Van Epps NEWS FEATURE IMMUNOLOGY PICKS UP SPEED Singapore may have lagged behind other countries in This solid financial sup- the immunology arena in recent years, but they’re now port helped convince Paul trying to make up for it.
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