Singapore-based NSG BioLabs will be launching a 15,000 sq. ft. co-working laboratory and office space aimed at developing an innovative biotechnology firm in November 2019. The first of its kind in Singapore, the lab is supported by Enterprise Singapore– the government agency developing the national startup and innovation ecosystem
Even as NSG has yet to complete construction, high profile biotech companies in Singapore have already moved in. One is Engine Biosciences, a venture-backed company integrating machine learning, combinatorial CRISPR screening, and drug discovery in a novel platform to develop better precision medicine-based therapeutics. Another is immunoSCAPE, a biotech company specialising in high-dimensional immune profiling to enable the development of new therapeutics for autoimmune diseases and cancer. The most recent entrant is Acumen Research Laboratory, a biomedical company that specialises in the development and commercialization of molecular diagnostic tests for life-threatening infectious diseases.
Established early this year, NSG BioLabs helps biotech firms take full advantage of Singapore’s research strength – in addition to the nation’s rapidly growing academic and start-up environment. It strategically partnered with Nest.Bio–a US-headquartered group managing early-stage venture capital funds and companies and looking to grow its presence locally, and connecting companies across the axis of Singapore, US, and China.
Also read: Singapore biotech startup Engine Biosciences raises US$10M for drug discovery technology
Daphne Teo, CEO, and founder of NSG BioLabs said: “The idea is for biotech start-ups to be able to move in and immediately start their key experiments. Currently the typical path requires start-ups to build their own laboratory, spending significant time and money which are in short supply for start-ups, or to locate in suboptimal spaces that compromise on the quality and speed of experiments. We provide a full-suite of facilities with millions of dollars’ worth of equipment, including standard biology lab facilities, DNA and tissue culture rooms, and even high cost and in-demand equipment like next generation sequencers and flow cytometers.”
According to the 2019 Global Life Sciences Outlook report by Deloitte, global health spending is on the rise due to growing life expectancies around the world. To meet growing healthcare demands and to raise the availability of care to more patients, the life sciences sector is projected to apply more digital strategies and adopt more transformative technologies. Key to this will be the ability of life science companies to instill transformation via efforts such as attracting top talent, redesigning conventional lab structures and increasing the number of collaborative R&D environments via incubator labs and innovation clusters.
NSG has also collaborated with equipment vendors to provide access to equipment like next-generation sequencers, liquid handlers and flow cytometers, that a start-up would be unable to get access to. Having easy access to equipment gives these small companies the edge to run their experiments faster and cheaper and also be able to analyse data more efficiently.
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