Singapore to spend $8B on biotech R&D

A number of international leaders are pushing for their countries to become hotbeds of biotech growth at BIO 2006. Singapore announced that it will dedicate $8 billion over the next five years to further strengthen research and development capabilities, doubling the country's the budget for 2001 to 2005. Malaysia is launching the BioNexus, a hub for biotechs that will offer a dedicated funding mechanism, venture capital agencies and set of tax breaks and other incentives for companies. With the worldwide biotech industry predicted reach $1 trillion by 2015, countries are scrambling to grab a piece of the pie.

- read this release [1] on Singapore's biotech initiative
- for more on Malaysia's BioNexus, read this Business Times article [2]

PLUS: Canadian Premier Jean Charest says he wants Quebec to maintain its edge in biotechnology research as he announced a $50 million investment in the sector, most of which will go to genome research. Article [3]

ALSO: New Zealand is showcasing the companies of its fast-growing biotech sector. Article [4]

FINALLY: Check out FierceBiotech's economic development report [5] on areas actively building biotech clusters.