2015年3月12日讯 /生物谷BIOON/--近年来，星城新加坡似乎成为了世界生物医药巨头的新宠儿。凭借得天独厚的地理优势以及强大的学术实力，新加坡已经吸引了包括诺华、艾伯维、安进等著名生物医药公司的加盟。
例如美国MicroVAX公司于2014年8月份宣布开始与新加坡有关部门进行合作开展临床研究。研究人员系统通过靶向多种癌症通用标记物来治疗包括乳腺癌、胰腺癌、大肠癌、卵巢癌和肺癌在内的多种疾病。这也是首个获得美国FDA和新加坡卫生科学局共同批准的临床项目。
同时，新加坡还着力吸引制药公司进入新加坡本土，打造一个集生物医药研发、生产于一体的生物医药产业中心。
此次，在葛兰素史克公司的CEO Andrew Witty主导下，葛兰素史克公司将入驻新加坡，为这个新兴的生物医药中心提供新的动力。据计划，未来葛兰素史克公司的亚洲医药、消费者健康以及疫苗业务将坐落在这个中心内。
葛兰素史克公司的这一举动让人很难不与最近公司在中国举步维艰的困境相联系在一起。
2013年6月葛兰素首次因行贿被起诉，去年9月被湖南省长沙市人民中级法院判罚3亿英镑（约4.87亿美金），这个数字与葛兰素史克以旅游等形式行贿的数额大致相当。此外，葛兰素史克前中国区高管Mark Reilly和其他涉案人员也被判处监禁。
就在不久之前，葛兰素史克公司刚刚宣布在中国范围内裁员110人，这些员工均被认为与2013年的那场行贿门事件有所关联。据了解葛兰素史克公司此次的行贿门事件在公司内部也引起了轩然大波，甚至波及到了Andrew Witty本人。因此，此次葛兰素史克公司与新加坡的合作协议也就让人联想无限。
详细英文报道：
SINGAPORE--GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) planted its flag in Singapore to build on a close relationship with the government of the wealthy city-state where CEO Andrew Witty worked and lived earlier in his career with the U.K. drugmaker.
The move also follows two damaging years in China linked to a 2013 bribery scandal that rippled in the past week with the firing of more than 100 employees in the country linked to compliance breaches. Last year in October, Witty shuffled key lieutenant and Singapore-based Abbas Hussain to the post of president at Global Pharmaceuticals.
Hussain has a key role now in reviving sales fortunes in the U.S., but also continues to oversee Asia business decisions mainly out of London.
The company's Asia pharmaceutical, consumer healthcare and vaccine businesses will be housed by 2016 in an 8-story, nearly 15,000-square-meter facility near a biotech cluster called Biopolis a stone's throw away from the National University of Singapore and its hospital and clinical complex.
Witty said the company remains focused on Asia despite the China scandal.
"While we expect it to be a bit slower going forward than it was 5 years ago, we still think it's going to be a very vibrant growth area," Witty told reporters. Witty has made emerging markets a priority for GSK since taking over in 2008.
Last year, the drugmaker was fined 3 billion yuan ($479 million) in China following allegations in 2013 it funneled funds to travel agencies to facilitate bribes to doctors and officials. The high-profile case hit GSK's drug sales in the country.
The company is dismissing 110 employees in China for misconduct, people familiar with the matter said this month.
"I don't have an expectation that there will be more people leaving, but equally if we found somebody else who did something wrong then they would go through the process and whatever would happen would happen," Witty said.
The move is a further coup for Singapore's Economic Development Board which in the past two years has landed state-of-the-art manufacturing operations from AbbVie ($ABBV), Amgen ($AMGN), Novartis ($NVS) and GSK as well as regional headquarters for firms such as Mundipharma, placing it as a key business, distribution and manufacturing center for drugs and medical devices.
The hub status is particularly notable as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations heads into a combined economic pact at the end of 2015 that will see greater harmonization on product approvals.
GSK has signed an agreement with Boustead Development Partnership joint venture entity to develop and lease the new building. "GSK and Singapore's histories are entwined," Witty said in a release.
"Since building our first site at Quality Road in 1972, we have continued to significantly expand our footprint, capability and talent base. In our experience and my own personal experience, Singapore excels in fostering talent, supporting business growth and offers an excellent base to access Asia. This is why we are making a significant decision to further increase our presence in Singapore as we continue to modernize and advance GSK."