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Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo and Melbourne took the other four spots as top life science hubs.
Singapore has been listed among the top five most competitive life science hubs within the Asia Pacific, revealed a CBRE report.
Also on the top five list are Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo and Melbourne.
The life sciences industry includes the pharmaceutical, medical equipment, biotechnology, food science and healthcare sectors.
CBRE used 12 criteria based on four major categories—pharmaceutical logistics, manufacturing, sales as well as research and development—to rank the competitiveness of the Asia Pacific life sciences market.
The report noted that the Singapore government has invested in building relevant infrastructure as well as life science parks in order to attract life sciences firms. It also provided specialised infrastructure to enable the efficient set up of manufacturing operations for biologics, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers.
Data from Singapore’s Economic Development Board showed that eight of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in the world have facilities within the city-state. These companies manufacture four of the top 10 drugs in the world by global revenue.
With this, Singapore’s biomedical manufacturing output last year totalled $33.56 billion, accounting for 10.8% of the city-state’s total manufacturing output.
The report revealed that the country has the highest number of certified companies that could handle pharmaceutical products within the Asia Pacific. It is also home to several freight forwarders that could handle the transfer of pharmaceutical products.
As such, the city-state is a major exporter of pharmaceutical goods. The country’s pharmaceutical exports last year amounted to $18 billion, or about 11% of total non-oil domestic exports.
“Singapore has maintained its competitive position as a biomedical hub – underpinned by its skilled talent pool, logistical network, government funding, as well as existing physical infrastructure to attract life sciences companies and foster a supportive eco-system,” said Catherine He, Director of Research, CBRE Southeast Asia.
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Cheryl Chiew, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this story, email: cheryl@propertyguru.com.sg