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Economic Board of Singapore (EDB) has announced that 2 manufacturing companies will set up manufacturing facilities in Singapore. 

They are BioNTech and Sanofi. 

Quote from Channel NewsAsia "German biotechnology firm BioNTech, which partnered Pfizer to develop a COVID-19 vaccine using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, will set up its regional headquarters in Singapore, along with a manufacturing facility.   

The facility could be operational as early as 2023 and create up to 80 jobs in Singapore.

The site will be highly automated with "end-to-end mRNA production capabilities across drug substance, drug product and fill-and-finish, with an estimated annual capacity of several hundred of million doses of mRNA-based vaccines depending on the specific vaccine", the company said." Unquote

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/biontech-vaccines-mrna-singapore-regional-headquarters

We anticipate that Singapore site will uses Single Use technology, which based on understanding from a BBC invited tour to BioNTech facilities in Germany. Aber Technology were used in the Single used bag to monitor viable biomass. Monitoring viable biomass is critical in PAT as well as process decision. Aber Technology gives realtime biomass monitoring  to the process without human intervention. Aber's viable biomass allows process control based on active biomass to achieve higher manufacturing efficiency. Most importantly, Aber viable biomass sensor is proven roboust and reliable for integration to various bioreactor and single use system. 

In addition, Sanofi is invest in a leading-edge production site in Singapore to manufacture three to four vaccines simultaneously, with 200 manpower to be recruited in preparation for fully operational target by Q1 2026. 

Quote from Channel NewsAsia “Sanofi’s decision to locate its first-in-Asia digitally-enabled vaccine production center in Singapore, to supply markets in the region and beyond, is an endorsement of Singapore’s position as a leading centre for advanced manufacturing” said Dr Beh Swan Gin, Chairman, EDB. “EDB will continue to promote digitalization, automation and innovation to transform the manufacturing sector and create good jobs for Singaporeans.” Unquote

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/sanofi-vaccines-singapore

What would be the digitalization, automation and innovation in Upstream Bioprocessing?

We anticipate that inline sensors such as Aber Viable Biomass technology, Automatic sampling without cross contaimination, inLine Metabolite sensor using Enzymatic Technology will be introduce to innovate existing process control strategy. Aber Viable Biomass sensor allows monitoring cell growth and process control based on viable cells. Aber Viable Biomass sensors also give insight into process incident such as early apoptosis. inLine or in-situ metabolite sensors reduce the requirement for manpower in sampling and risk of contamination. We think Single use pH sensor will be implemented too.

Both project will see design phase with construction expected to begin in 2021.