The pharmaceutical industry in Singapore has strongly evolved owing to the highly-skilled biomedical workforce, world-class infrastructure, and favorable government policy initiatives. Nearly 30 of the world’s top pharmaceutical firms have established their manufacturing and R&D unit in Singapore to explore new strategic business opportunities, and to introduce product innovations in Asia. The volume of trade flow for pharmaceutical products, in and out of Singapore, is suspiciously huge and that’s why it acts as a key trading hub to connect South East Asia and the Western world. Singapore is one of the major re-exporters of pharmaceuticals. Singapore’s pharmaceutical industry is regulated by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and the Health Products Act 2007, which includes all medical devices, pharmaceuticals, medicines and other supplements. These regulatory bodies carry out stringent approvals for cost effective and efficient medical devices, and other medical products.
Some of the major players in Singapore pharmaceutical market are Abbott, GlaxoSmithKline, Lonza, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi-Aventis. These pharmaceutical companies account for more than 35-40% share of Singapore’s regional market. The leading position of Singapore pharmaceutical industry in medical innovation and production is also contributed to the Singaporean government authorities, as they provide large investments in its research and development capabilities.
Despite these growth opportunities, there are some challenges associated with Singapore pharmaceutical industry. There are still some remote locations and niche markets where there is a lack of suitable local manpower. Another challenge faced by pharmaceutical companies is the potential loss of sales due to patent expiration. As a result, many innovator companies are channelizing more resources into research and development initiatives in order to replace old drugs with new ones. An extensive investment by the public and private sector and specific expertise will help Singapore to overcome the above mentioned challenges, and it is also expected that the global pharmaceutical firms will continue to leverage Singapore’s pharmaceutical hub status to gain access to awaited opportunities in the emerging market of Asian countries.
Singapore has emerged as one of the most advanced hubs in the field of pharmaceutical manufacturing and research in Asia. Growing number of foreign companies as well as investments by Singaporean government has led to the growth of pharmaceutical industry in this region. The country is expected to grow at a decent CAGR in the near future. With a well-developed infrastructure and distribution network, strong intellectual property (IP) laws with good regulatory environment, and active government support of the biomedical industry. This makes Singapore, the first choice to manufacture pharmaceuticals, expand or sell their products in the Asian market.
Source: Market Research Future
