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Carolyn Ong

Hong Kong's biotechnology industry is driven by hype and is lagging behind Singapore, which could become a world-class biotechnology centre, according to a report by International Data Corp (IDC).

Phil Fersht, director of bio-IT and life sciences for IDC Asia-Pacific, said Singapore's efforts to build a biotechnology industry from scratch were impressive and systematic in contrast to Hong Kong's industry, which was driven by short-term gains from market-driven hype.

'[Singapore's] chances to succeed on a global level are very high,' Mr Fersht said.

The Singapore Government is investing S$4 billion (about HK$17.82 billion) over three years to fund biotechnology development. A quarter of the S$4 billion Economic Development Board (EDB) fund is set aside to encourage local biotech startups.

Biopolis, a 1.8 million square feet facility, will house the full spectrum of biomedical sciences research and development activities. Construction is close to the Science Park and it will be ready by June next year.

Mr Fersht said that the city-state was compensating the lack of biotech talent by developing a life sciences research and development environment with super computers, grid computing, vast on-demand storage resources and 3D rendering techniques that can shorten the long clinical stage.

'Modern technologies, such as machines that can sequence the human genome, or machines that can test hundreds or thousands of compounds each day can makeup for intelligence,' he said.

The EDB has successfully lured big pharmaceutical companies such as Chiron, GlaxoSmith-Kline, Pfizer, Merck and Schering-Plough to the city-state by offering a number of tax and grant incentive schemes. It is also actively setting up joint ventures with these global giants to create jobs for Singaporeans, who could then be trained by imported talent.

'I believe the government bodies trying to develop Singapore as a scientific force have started down a promising road,' Mr Fersht said.

'They have developed a scientific advisory board from across the Pacific comprising of United States scientists from Salk Institute, a world-renowned institute, to give advice and consult in the development of biotech in Singapore.'

Mr Fersht said the Singapore mission was a long-term building project, which would take about 10 years to see results.

'There are a lot of startups in the stem cell research area. The country has very beneficial laws in cloning and stem cell research and this could potentially be a very lucrative and global centre for those areas,' he said.

Hong Kong Institute of Biotechnology managing director Shawn Leung said Hong Kong had paid only lip service to biotechnology development.

Apart from the real-estate initiative of building the Science Park - aimed at attracting technology and biotechnology companies to base themselves in Hong Kong -  there was little government funding available for biotech startups.

Mr Leung also said that biotechnology awareness was poor in Hong Kong whereas in Singapore awareness was higher because the study of life sciences had been incorporated in schools.

Biotechnology play in the SAR was confined to companies hoping to boost their share prices by having a biotech focus.

Albert Yu, chief executive of Hong Kong DNA Chips, a biotech company planning to list on the Growth Enterprise Market, said most so-called biotech firms in Hong Kong were trading companies that had bought projects from China and repackaged them for commercial purposes.

Analysts are concerned that the biotech hype in Hong Kong, kickstarted by the listing of CK Life Sciences, could lead to another bubble.

'It's really touch and go. This is a sector that investors should not be looking at to make a quick buck. Unlike the Internet dotcom industry, life sciences and biotech development need long-term vision and commitment,' Mr Fersht said.

He said IDC did not view Hong Kong as a key player in life sciences and biotechnology research and development, citing Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, India and China as the developing regions.

'Hong Kong is very finance-driven. Very much an 'invest quickly, make money and get out' sort of mentality. Hong Kong lost a lot of its edge in recent years. It needs to think of a long-term approach. It is close to China, which is a very interesting area in biotech, so that is something it can use. There are very few laws to govern patents in China so there's certainly opportunities there. But the whole mentality of making a quick buck needs to be changed,' Mr Fersht said.



SAR lags in biotech battle