With rapidly intensifying competition and mounting costs of business, it has become absolutely crucial for biomedical sciences companies to achieve shorter time-to-market. Companies that choose Singapore to be their base find themselves in a position to compete globally because of the country's high efficiency, world-class infrastructure, easy access to important markets, skilled workforce and established supporting industries. These companies include:

Schering-Plough that has set up its Chemical R&D Centre in Singapore to carry out process development and process optimisation of new and/or existing products when it starts up in 2003. Equipped with a pilot plant, the centre plays a key role in improving the yield of the products manufactured and the efficiency of the processes in both the existing and new Chemical Synthesis Plants. The pilot plant will also have the capability to manufacture drug substance to support clinical trial studies - a critical step in bringing the company's pharmaceutical products to commercialisation.