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Malacca set to be next world biotechnology hub2007/08/24
Malacca set to be next world biotechnology hub
By : Annie Freeda Cruez
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[img]http://www.nst.com.my/Friday/National/20070824082159/insidepix1[/img]
(From left) Actis Biologics chief medical officer Dr Taufiq S. Thiagi, Actis BioVentures Sdn Bhd director Radzali Hassan, Actis Biologics co-founder and chairman Sanjeev Saxena, its president P.N. Venugopalan and vice-president G. Thenakaran announcing their plans for the Bio-City in Alor Gajah.
(From left) Actis Biologics chief medical officer Dr Taufiq S. Thiagi, Actis BioVentures Sdn Bhd director Radzali Hassan, Actis Biologics co-founder and chairman Sanjeev Saxena, its president P.N. Venugopalan and vice-president G. Thenakaran announcing their plans for the Bio-City in Alor Gajah.
KUALA LUMPUR: A massive project costing RM1.36 billion will soon make Alor Gajah the next biotechnology hub of the world.
Undertaking this mammoth project at the 113ha site in Malacca is California-based Actis Biologics Inc, a bio-pharmaceutical company which has set up a Malaysian-registered company Actis Biologics Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
Actis co-founder and chairman Sanjeev Saxena said the making of the Bio-City in Malaysia was with the vision to create a competitive, self sufficient Life Sciences industry, create global recognition and ensure investors had good returns.
"Malaysia will also become the hub for the commercialisation of existing research. The biotech hub will also create jobs for thousands of people."
Saxena said his company intends to create Life Science and Life Science-related companies focusing on cardiovascular diseases, anti-cancer, diabetes, respiratory disorders, neurological disorders, regenerative medicines and ophthalmological indications.
The company will also focus on age-related disorders, pain management, new age antibiotics, clinical/molecular diagnostics, process instrumentation and analytical instruments.
Actis Biologics president P.N. Venugopalan said the company would develop therapeutic treatments and would continue its research into vaccines and medications for each of the segments.
Telesto Diagnostics is a medical device company set up by Actis Biologics Malaysia to focus on medical computer-aided diagnosis for breast cancer software.
"The system demonstrates an accuracy of 95 per cent compared with the 70 to 90 per cent accuracy achieved through present methods," said Venugopalan.
Telesto Diagnostic has been working with some of the world’s leading radiologists in perfecting the computer-aided diagnostic system and is ready for technology transfer to Malaysia.
Another company, Kohinoor Biotech, a private bio-pharmaceutical company based here, is committed to the development of therapies for the prevention and treatment of cancer.
Actis Biologics Inc has received a worldwide licence for Angiozyme, an anti-cancer drug from Sirna and Chiron, which co-developed this novel compound with Actis.
He said the costs of clinical development and commercialisation of Angiozyme in Malaysia would be about 20 per cent of the costs incurred in the US, Europe or Japan.
The hub is also expected to develop a therapeutic vaccine for HIV.
Saxena said it would also start a Life Science training institute at the biotech hub to produce people specialised in biotechnology and to meet industry demands[/img]
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