Through the acquisition of the Biogen manufacturing site, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies has been given a chance to carry on with its objective of creating new technologies, products, and services.

“We hope to maximize our skill in innovating and learning (about) the life science industry, as well as adapting to the culture of the staff and leadership in the company, which came with the acquisition. This acquisition gave us the opportunity to expand the business and closely monitor production for innovative companies in the sector,” Petersen said.

“It will also enable us to ensure the quality of our products, from manufacturing and packaging all the way to the final client with a fully integrated business. This goes in line with the company’s values where the patient is always the center of our focus.”

As the company approaches new milestones, it aims to double the size of its operations, as well as create a more sustainable business for its clients.

“We believe this objective is achievable due to the positive results from our acquisition. With a business like ours in Denmark, we hope to strengthen the connection we have with our customers,” Petersen said.

www.fujifilmdiosynth.com

The renewable product is of natural origin, making it nontoxic and nonharmful to the environment. It can be applied through patented water or solvent solutions, as well as through ointments and liniments, making it useful for a wide variety of industries.

“We are currently focusing our efforts on further developing applications especially targeting the medical, personal care and fiber industries,” shared Ekman.

When applied to textiles and fibers, the NordShield treatment eliminates mold and mildew, ensuring the product’s economic lifetime and having a large impact on logistics and warehousing.

Hand-in-cage studies conducted in Bangalore, India, have also shown that treating textiles with NordShield provide high mosquito repellent efficacy.

Nordic BioTech Group partners with organizations around the globe to develop applications for NordShield. Third-party partners in Finland, Sweden, Germany, France and Japan, among others, are continuously conducting tests.

“We are currently in collaboration with a major Japanese multinational organization involved in the blood transfusion industry to develop a NordShield solution intended to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections by targeting to inactivate pathogens that may be present in donated blood units,” said Ekman.

The NordShield technology has shown good antimicrobial efficacy, including enveloped viruses, specifically HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

Nordic BioTech Group is driven by a world-class scientific team that combines entrepreneurship with experience from global leaders like David Jay Weber, professor of medicine, paediatrics and epidemiology, and associate chief medical officer of UNC Health Care.

“Apart from NordShield being a highly commercially viable product with a range of applications, its ability to do a tremendous amount of good is what motivates us to push it forward,” concluded Ekman.

www.nordshield.com

“Geographically, we are located in the very heart of the Asian region,” said Tanigaki. “This is an advantage for us as we conduct business across Asian markets.”

“The talent pool in Singapore is a huge plus and a few years ago, we established our Shimadzu Innovation Center, one of four Shimadzu research centers outside of Japan. Our research and development team here in Singapore collaborates very closely with our counterparts in Japan.”

As the company continues to implement its growth strategy across the Asian region, Tanigaki recognizes the importance of localization.

“The Japanese and Asia- Pacific markets are very different. It is important for us to implement our regional marketing and branding strategies from Singapore,” said Tanigaki.

“Singapore’s strength also lies in its cultural diversity. If we can understand the needs of the local market, then we can better understand the regional markets in which we are doing business. Our customers understand that we act as a local company and will continue to play for the home team as we develop our business in Singapore and across the region.”

www.shimadzu.com.sg

The company takes a similar immunological approach to conquering cancer. Despite the unprecedented durable response rates observed with immune checkpoint blockades, efficacy is limited in the majority of treated patients by a key barrier — the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.

By utilizing a translational medicine approach, Elixiron’s scientists have identified key immunosuppressive cytokines from the microenvironment of immunologically cold tumors, which drive immune resistance and cancer metastasis.

“We are committed to the development of revolutionary immunotherapies, which target the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and harness the full power of the immune system to fight cancer,” said Chen.

“By 2021, we aim to become a biotechnology rising star with two clinical stage immunotherapeutics in development to help win the battle against both HBV and cancer.”

www.elixiron.com

In 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration historically approved the first two products of CAR-T (chimeric antigen receptor) cell therapy and the first product of gene therapy. “We expect to see more efforts and activities devoted to these fields in Japan, while TFBS is targeted to provide services of GMP (good manufacturing practice) virus production and testing in 2018,” explained Yuan.

TFBS aims to become a center of excellence for virus testing and production in Asia. Sixteen percent of TFBS’s clients are Japanese — Yuan aims to increase this to 50 percent in the next two years in line with the development of Japan’s biopharmaceutical industry.

“While meeting the biological safety and quality requirements of Japan’s regulatory authorities, TFBS is committed to strengthening our relationships with our Japanese clients,” concluded Yuan.

“In the coming age of cell and gene therapy, we look forward to providing our Japanese clients with solutions for their needs in the production of viruses at our cutting-edge GMP-compliant P2 facility.”

www.tfbsbio.com

With a hub in Singapore, a strong partnership with DIH International in Hong Kong and various local sales partners, Hocoma ensures a strong and successful presence in Asia-Pacific markets.

“With demographic changes happening, the demand for efficient therapies is growing. Our technologies enable healthcare providers to offer higher intensity therapy and thus improve therapy outcomes,” states Gery Colombo, founder and CEO of Hocoma. “We will improve millions of lives by providing functional and efficient solutions that set the standards for human movement therapy.”

The state capital of Victoria, Melbourne, received the Most Admired Knowledge City Award (MAKCi) in 2010 in recognition of its knowledge based development.

Michelle Gallaher heads the peak industry forum for the leaders of the Victorian biotechnology industry; BioMelbourne Network;