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Companies are always on the lookout for interesting new technologies that can value-add their business. Who scouts for these breakthroughs? Introducing - the alliance manager. Contributed by: Zheng-Shan Chong and Shweta Jadhav

by Shainan Hora From 2015-2020, a total of 70 deals were made locally in the Singapore biotech and healthcare sector. Out of the companies founded in the last five years, US$93M was raised by AI-based medical diagnostics and digital health start-ups, and US$105M by start-ups working on immunotherapy and drug-based therapeutics (based on disclosed funding information only). So, what constitutes a good investment? What aspects are looked at before investing? BCS spoke to Dr. Jessie Tong, Senior Manager at SGInnovate Venture Investing team and Dr. Koh Fong Ming, Senior Associate at Heritas Capital Management, to get their insights on the investment landscape in Singapore. A good founder There isn’t a simple checklist for this one as the requirements vary based on the specific industry sub-sector and the growth and developmental stage of the company. However, there are a few things that investors are drawn to: Who you are: It goes without saying that entrepreneurs must be mentally…

Regulations are made by the government to protect public health by ensuring the safety and efficacy of medicines, vaccines, and medical devices. Based on regional and economic constraints, the regulatory bodies around the globe differ in their guidelines, making it challenging even for regulatory affairs professionals to navigate. To aid in the understanding of these variations, BCS recently organised a three-part webinar-based workshop series on regulatory affairs, given by experts in different domains of regulation in Asia, Europe, and America.

In this series we explore the day-to-day lives of researchers who have successfully transitioned to various non-academic roles. First up - Technical writing! Contributed by: Zheng-Shan Chong

BCS speaks to Andrew D. Ive, the founder of Big Idea Ventures, about the future of food, the recipe for startup success, and more. Contributed by: Zheng-Shan Chong

As part of COVID-19 webinar series, Biotech Connection Singapore (BCS) hosted speakers from academic and industry settings to discuss advances in the research community under the new ‘norm’, as well as the research efforts undertaken in facilitating basic and translational research in the fight against SARS-COV-2. The panel included:  Dr. Ooi Eng Eong, Professor and Deputy Director of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme at Duke-NUS Medical School  Mr. Rajeev Nair, Senior VP and Head of APAC Research Solutions, Life Science, Merck  Mr. Mark Dupal, APAC Senior Sales Director of Twist Bioscience

The essential stay home conversations is a series of webinars curated by BCS to explore how the biomedical community is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and how they contribute to bringing this public health crisis under control. Diagnostic testing or detecting the virus in patients is a critical step in determining the public health response and controlling the outbreak. Following the successful launch of our first webinar with Dr. Timothy Barkham (TTSH) about the efforts undertaken at the front lines of COVID-19 testing, we were honoured to have Dr. Sidney Yee, CEO of Diagnostics Development (DxD) Hub at A*STAR, Dr. Lihan Zhou, co-founder and CEO of MiRXES, and Dr. Tan Min Han, CEO and Medical Director of Lucence, to share the exciting journey of developing and manufacturing these crucial diagnostic kits. The webinar was moderated by Dr Mayura Wagle, Vice President of BCS

Biology is inching ever closer to engineering - and Singapore's at the forefront. Contributed by: Lim Cheng Kai, Ning Mao, and Lee Hui Ling

Tuesday, May 12, 2020 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Zoom WebinarWritten by:  Shainan Hora COVID-19 has made an unprecedented impact on the lives of millions worldwide and put to test healthcare systems and biotech resources across many developed countries. Biotech Connection Singapore (BCS) hosted its first webinar on 12thMay 2020 and had the pleasure to speak with A/Prof Timothy Barkham, Senior Consultant and Clinical Microbiologist from the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH). The event, moderated by Dr Natasha Ng, President of BCS, included an hour-long candid conversation about Dr. Barkham’s experience working at the frontlines in the laboratory during the COVID-19 pandemic, and insights on how the healthcare sector can learn from the current outbreak. The webinar started with Dr. Barkham highlighting the challenges he and his team were facing being on the frontlines from day one. He shared the importance of collaborative work, addressing the right…

Research Fellow, DUKE-NUS