World Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Congress Asia

The World Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Congress Asia was held in Singapore in October 2009.

Doug Sipp, Manager, Scientific Communication and International Affairs, Riken, Japan, discussed Asia’s performance in stem cell research. He said, “Asia is currently still a developing power in stem cell research, rather than a dominant one. From 2001-2009, countries like the US, Germany, England and Canada have outperformed Asian countries (with the exception of Japan) in terms of producing stem cell publications.

China has made stem cell research a priority funding program in reproductive and development biology. Japan has devoted 10 billion Yen (US$100 million) for IPS research. Singapore is investing S$75 million (US$53.9) in the next 5 years into stem cell research. South Korea is committing 430 billion Won (US$380 million) over the next 10 years to stem cell R&D.

BM Ghandi, Partner, EmProCell Clinical Research, India, said, “In India, about 90 percent of funding for the life sciences and biotechnology comes from the public sector. India is encouraging public-private sector partnerships. A number of stem cell research have been setup in the last five years.”

According to EH Lee, executive director, A*Star, Singapore, about S$10-12 billion (US$7.2-8.6) is available for biomedical research in the next five years – equivalent to about three percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Due to the relatively smaller budget that Singapore has compared to other countries like the US, the country needs to focus on certain areas where it can compete effectively. Stem cell research is one such area. Due to the economic crisis, companies in Singapore are looking at downsizing their R&D. They are also partnering with A*Star to conduct collaborative research with joint-Intellectual Property (IP) ownership.