Contact lens maker Alcon opens expanded manufacturing facility in Tuas

SINGAPORE – Eye-care device firm Alcon Manufacturing and Logistics announced the opening of its expanded manufacturing and logistics facility on June 27.

The facility, located in Tuas, will create more jobs, including specialised roles across production operations, quality control and distribution management. It will also serve as a key hub in Alcon’s global supply chain.

Alcon also has a pharmaceutical plant located in Tuas.

The medtech manufacturing sector has been growing steadily, with an output of $19.4 billion in 2023. This represents a nearly fourfold increase over the past decade, said Ms Low Yen Ling, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry. She was speaking at the opening ceremony of Alcon’s expanded facility.

The Tuas facility, one of Alcon’s largest high-tech manufacturing facilities, is equipped with advanced automation, smart manufacturing systems and industry 4.0 capabilities to meet the growing global demand for Alcon’s contact lenses portfolio.

Alcon operates 17 manufacturing facilities globally, including in Malaysia, Indonesia, and two in Singapore.

The expanded facility will support the global production of Alcon’s flagship contact lenses.

“The expanded Tuas facility will not only enhance our ability to serve patients’ ocular health needs globally, but also advance our mission to help people see brilliantly through bold innovation, our investments in training and education, and our promise of unwavering quality for customers and patients,” said Mr Patrick Collier, senior vice-president of global manufacturing and technical operations for Alcon.

The Tuas facility will support Singapore’s ambition to grow its medtech sector, which comprises over 400 companies and employs more than 16,000 people as at 2024, according to Alcon.

The Asia-Pacific region continues to be the fastest-growing market for medtech, said Ms Low at the expanded facility’s opening ceremony.

“(Singapore’s medtech) market value is projected to reach almost $300 billion by 2030,” she said, adding that this growth is fuelled by a growing middle-class and rising demand for quality healthcare.

Said Ms Low: “The (Asia-Pacific) region is now the world’s second-largest source of demand for medical technology – second only to the United States.”

“As part of our Manufacturing 2030 Vision to become a global hub for business, innovation and talent in advanced manufacturing, we are building a vibrant, innovation-driven medtech ecosystem,” said Ms Low.

“For instance, in 2024, we invested $38 million to set up MedTech Catapult. It helps local and international medtech innovators and companies bring promising technologies from lab to market by providing access to shared facilities, research and development capabilities, and manufacturing networks.”

The expanded facility will also strengthen innovation and supply chain resilience within Singapore’s medtech ecosystem.

Since establishing its first manufacturing site in Singapore in 2005, Alcon has invested in the country’s talent, technology and infrastructure, committing more than US$600 million (S$765 million) in investment to date, said the contact lens manufacturer in a statement.

French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi opened a 58,000 sq m plant at Tuas Biomedical Park in 2024 to produce vaccines and other biopharmaceutical products such as enzymes and laboratory-grown antibodies.

German conglomerate Siemens is also building a new factory in Singapore, slated for completion by 2026, for its industrial automation and digitalisation products that will create more than 400 jobs locally. Estimated to cost €200 million (S$290 million), the plant will begin operations in 2025 or 2026, with Tuas as the likely location.