Novartis to build $608m biotech plant in Tuas
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A man walks past the logo of Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG in front of a plant in Basel in this October 25, 2011 file photo. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
THE next blockbuster vaccine could be manufactured in Singapore in a few years' time.
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis will pump more than US$500 million (S$608 million) into building a new biotechnology facility in Tuas, next to its current pharmaceuticals plant, it said on Wednesday.
This is the largest investment that Singapore has secured in the biomedical sciences industry this year, the Economic Development Board (EDB) said on Wednesday.
The facility will be Novartis' first biologics production site in Asia. Biologics refers to making drugs such as vaccines from proteins produced by cell cultures, rather than synthesising drugs from chemicals.
