In the medical industry, hubs of innovation aren’t created overnight. They are cultivated over time, when policymakers, institutions, medical device makers and suppliers collaborate to create an environment with the right infrastructure to support innovation. If you study areas of the world with a high concentration of medical innovation, you’ll find seven things: 
 

• Business-friendly government policies 
• Significant regional investment by larger medical device manufacturers 
• Access to funding 
• Strong educational and research infrastructure 
• Availability of qualified personnel 
• World class supply chain 
• Optimal logistics. 

Singapore’s medtech community has all those elements. This whitepaper looks at how these elements are driving rapid innovation in COVID-related invitro device (IVD) technology. 

Singapore Medtech Community Overview 

According to the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), Singapore is home to more than 60 multinational medtech companies undertaking a range of activities from regional headquarters and manufacturing to research and development. Its medtech manufacturing sector produces a diverse range of medical technology products from implantable pacemakers to contact lenses and life science instruments for global markets. Medical device manufacturers are successfully leveraging Singapore’s strong design and engineering capabilities, base of automation suppliers and high quality assurance standards to undertake the manufacturing of high-value medical products. 

Singapore’s network of top universities, research institutions and innovative start-ups are also key to driving innovation. There are 25 R&D centers established by multinational medical device companies and a local pool of over 220 medtech start-ups and small-medium enterprises. Sixty percent of the world’s microarrays and one third of the world’s thermal cyclers and mass spectrometers are manufactured in Singapore. 

The R&D Center presence drives a strong end-to-end infrastructure ranging from product design to product optimization and validation. The diversity of Singapore’s population has made it an excellent option for clinical trials, as study participants can be recruited from a broad base of races and ethnicities. This can be particularly important when differences in patient physical characteristics may require adjustments to a design. Additionally, this strong focus on the medical sector helps ensure that companies pursuing product development there have a local supply chain with the appropriate regulatory registrations and product quality standards.

Download the full white paper to read more