The Edge Financial Daily, June 19, 2008
Malaysia to seal RM1b
biotech deals at BIO 2008
Local biotech firms to ink six agreements with
foreign partners
By Cindy Yeap (FD@bizedge.com)
SAN DIEGO (California): The size of the Malaysian
delegation attending the biotechnology world’s
annual convention this year may have shrunk from to
82 from 320 last year, but the country’s
biotechnology sector is poised for further growth
with the inking of six agreements here this week
promising at least RM1 billion in investments over
the next three years.
The investments that will come in between 2008 and
2011 from five countries – the United States,
France, Italy, Korea and India – were in the area of
agriculture healthcare and industrial biotechnology,
Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation (BiotechCorp)
chief executive officer Datuk Iskandar Mizal Mahmood
said.
“In addition to the investment flows, we must not
forget other benefits these deals bring in critical
areas of improving the use and the level of
technology as well as expanding the pool of
knowledge workers in Malaysia,” Iskandar said on the
sidelines of the convention.
As at press time Science, Technology and Innovation
Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkill, who is leading
the Malaysian delegation at the BIO International
Convention 2008 (BIO 2008), would witness the
signing of the agreements later yesterday and today.
Three of the six collaborative agreements to be
signed are in the area of agriculture biotechnology.
They are between ABCAR Asia and ABCAR France,
Success Nexus Sdn Bhd and Italy’s Merloni Progretti
as well as that between Budi Biofuels and US-based
PureVision Technology.
For the healthcare sector, the agreements are
between BiotechCorp and US-based Trusgen as well as
that between Malacca Biotech, Vanguard Creative
Technologies and India’s Vivo Biotech. The one in
industrial biotech is between BiotechCorp and
Korea’s Insect Biotech.
“These collaborations are the result of our
continuous dissemination of information. The more
visible we are to the world, the better the hits you
will get.
“The successful implementation of these deals will
reinforce our (BiotechCorp’s) three key priorities
for this year – strengthening the value creation in
building the business, intensifying technology
acquisition that are of most benefit to
biotechnology users whilst continue improving
processes and level of services to BioNexus
companies,” Iskandar said.
He said BiotechCorp would continue to leverage and
build on the country’s key strengths in the area of
agriculture biotech, tropical diseases, and contract
manufacturing in developing the industry.
Iskandar added that the number of home-grown or
BioNexus-status companies was expected to reach 120
by year end from 63 currently, but not at the
expense of quality. The 63 BioNexus-status companies
have attracted some RM1.3 billion in investments to
date.
“We have from 2005 disseminated information about
Malaysia and what Malaysia can do. Subsequent to
that it is about business matching and we have seen
some positive trends.
“Instead of just us targeting certain companies,
companies are coming to us. Trusgen is one of these
companies. We do not tell the world we are good in
everything, only certain areas and based on that,
they have come to us. We hope to be seeing more
strategic collaborations for Malaysia to move up the
value chain and industry ladder,” Iskandar said.
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