Novartis invests US$256 million to expand Singapore plant

SWISS biopharma giant Novartis has invested US$256 million to expand its biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Singapore. The expanded site will focus on manufacturing therapeutic antibody drugs.

Novartis said that it plans to deploy digital and automation solutions at the site to enhance manufacturing productivity, improve operational efficiency, and upskill the workforce.

The expanded plant, which is expected to be operational by early 2026, is estimated to create 100 new job openings in the local life sciences sector. Novartis said that it also intends to provide training for its existing employees to “thrive in a highly digitalised and automated setting”. 

At the groundbreaking ceremony on Friday (Mar 15), Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said that the site expansion would more than double Novartis’ production capacity in Singapore.

He also highlighted the biomedical sector as one of the top five contributors to Singapore’s manufacturing output – with manufacturing, as a whole, accounting for close to 20 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product.

He noted: “This latest collaboration is testament to how like-minded partners can work together, across borders and continents, to address shared global challenges like public health.”

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In his speech, DPM Heng emphasised the importance of investing in new innovations to make biopharma more productive and sustainable going forward.

Another sector priority would be to deepen product innovation and seek new frontiers in therapeutics that can have an impact in Singapore and the wider region. 

DPM Heng, who is also coordinating minister for economic policies, noted that innovative biological medicines will be developed both in-house, and by partners, at Novartis’ expanded site.

He encouraged the company to extend its partnership with Singapore to manufacture advanced modalities, such as gene and cell therapy, radioligand therapies, and ribonucleic acid (RNA) therapeutics. “I hope that you will forge even closer partnerships, so that we can collectively push the frontiers of biomedicine further.”

Since 1986, Novartis has invested over US$1 billion in its partnership with Singapore.

After establishing a manufacturing site here in 2022, the group in 2013 set up its first Asia-based biopharmaceutical production facility, which represents one of the largest manufacturing investments made by the company to date.