Singapore

BIONTECH will pump in "hundreds of millions of dollars" to set up its South-east Asia headquarters and open a vaccine manufacturing facility in Singapore, as part of plans to establish a footprint in Asia.

The move, supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), will see the German biotech company create over 80 jobs in the Republic in areas such as production, management and quality control, the company said in a media briefing on Monday.

Its Singapore office is slated to open this year, while the facility could be operational from 2023.

The facility will allow it to provide mRNA-based products to the region and across the world, it said, adding that the new plant can also provide "rapid response production capability for South-east Asia to address potential pandemic threats".

This is because the facility will be equipped to produce a range of novel mRNA vaccines and therapeutics for infectious diseases and cancer. BioNTech said that the site will have an estimated annual capacity of several hundred million doses of mRNA-based vaccines depending on the specific vaccine.

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BioNTech chief executive officer and co-founder Ugur Sahin said that having this manufacturing hub in Singapore will mean that a "percentage (of Covid-19 vaccines manufactured) will go to the city-state".

Singapore's Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing noted that the new facility would enhance Singapore's supply chain resilience and strengthen its position as a regional innovation hub for the healthcare industry.

The manufacturing hub will also strengthen the portfolio of different vaccine production technologies in Singapore, he said.

"We are not just talking about meeting the immediate needs (of Singaporeans). Our partnerships need to look at future needs as well and this facility will do just that," Mr Chan added.

Beyond the pandemic, companies are also studying the use of mRNA for other diseases including cancer, which could be groundbreaking.

EDB chairman Beh Swan Gin said the investment could enable Singapore to develop capabilities in "an important new therapeutic modality", as part of the strategy to grow the Republic's biopharmaceutical industry.

Singapore provides an excellent business climate, growing biotechnology industry and rich talent base, Dr Sahin said.

The expansion in the city-state, however, will not bolster vaccine production over the next year, he noted, considering that the plant will only be operational by 2023.

Having multiple nodes in the company's production network is an "important strategic step" in building its overall network capacity, according to Dr Sahin.

The new plant can also expand BioNTech's ability to manufacture and deliver mRNA vaccines and therapies around the world.

BioNTech is not the only vaccine manufacturer that Singapore has partnered. In April this year, French biopharmaceutical company Sanofi said it plans to invest 400 million euros (S$644 million) over five years to create a new vaccine production site in Singapore.