Published November 28, 2008

Manipal's unit to invest RM20m in facility

By PAULINE NG
IN KUALA LUMPUR
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STEMPEUTICS Research - a fully owned subsidiary of India's Manipal Group - plans to invest RM20 million (S$8.35 million) in a stem cell research facility in Malaysia with the aim of introducing a stem cell based product in three years.

Over the past three years, the education and healthcare group had been conducting pilot studies in India on stem cell use in the areas of heart attacks and vascular diseases, and intends to begin clinical trials soon.

Stempeutics has two labs in India and its third in Malaysia has as its goal the development of cell-based therapeutics using human adult stem cells derived from bone marrow.

The potential for stem cell research and therapy in Malaysia is estimated at US$157 million, and growing annually at some 12 per cent, according to Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation, the government agency established to develop biotechnology and attract investment capital into the sector.

Last year, it awarded Stempeutics BioNexus status - the first international company in cell stems research and therapeutics to be given the status. This status accords it a range of tax incentives and 'rights', such as the ability to fully own the local set-up.

Formed only in 2005, BiotechCorp has since awarded 80 companies BioNexus status and approved a total of RM1.3 billion in investments - mainly in the three focus areas of healthcare, agriculture, and industrial biotech.



Still at a nascent stage, the biotech sector currently employs some 1,600 knowledge workers, most of whom are locals.

Because of its headstart in the sector, India is one of the countries targeted.

The Manipal group already has substantial business interests in the country and establishing a Stempeutics lab in Malaysia is a logical choice.

'Our aim is to make Malaysia the stem cell hub for this part of the world,' Stempeutics Research president BN Manohar said at the launch of the facility in Technology Park Malaysia yesterday.

He outlined the company's main goals: introducing a medicine based on stem cells and a cell-based platform for the testing of drugs by other entities; plus the development of local human capital.