Singapore biomedical startups tap China’s patient pool and manufacturing to speed drug development
Singapore biomedical startups Lion TCR and BetaLife are expanding into China to accelerate development of new cancer and diabetes treatments. They are leveraging China’s vast patient pool, hospital networks and manufacturing capabilities, while navigating the country’s evolving regulatory landscape.
Singapore biotechnology firms are expanding into China to tap the country’s vast patient pool, hospital networks and manufacturing capabilities to speed up the development of new therapies for cancer and diabetes.
Lion TCR, a spin-off from Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), is developing a new way to treat liver cancer linked to hepatitis B by reprogramming the body’s own immune cells to recognise and attack tumours. The company conducted its first clinical trials at Singapore General Hospital before expanding to China, where it has established a facility at the China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City. Lion TCR’s CEO Peng Xiaoming said the firm has shortened the distance between innovation, clinical needs and manufacturers by collaborating with local hospitals and research institutions. The company has also begun clinical trials in China with local hospital partners and is developing a cheaper “off-the-shelf” version of its cell therapy that could be manufactured in different countries, as well as using artificial intelligence to expand its therapies to other tumours such as lung and breast cancer.
Fellow A*STAR spin-off BetaLife is developing stem cell therapies that could replace cells damaged by diabetes. China, with about 148 million adults living with diabetes — roughly a quarter of the world’s adult diabetes population, according to 2024 estimates from the International Diabetes Federation — presents a key market for the Singapore med-tech startup. BetaLife co-founder and director Novanne Seah said China combines major hospital manufacturing capacity and a rapidly growing cell therapy ecosystem. The company has partnered with the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University and in July opened a research and manufacturing lab in Xiamen as it prepares for its first-in-human clinical trials, with tests and patient recruitment underway. Ms Seah estimated that a small-scale first-in-human cell therapy study in China could be 20 to 50 per cent lower in cost compared with conducting an equivalent programme in Singapore, and that regulatory and clinical trial site preparations could be shortened by several weeks to a few months.
Navigating China’s complex healthcare market regulations remains a key challenge for biomedical firms expanding into the country. China has been implementing new regulations aimed at supporting biomedical innovation, among them State Council Decree No. 818, which came into effect in May and sets out how new biomedical technologies can be brought into clinical use, providing an alternative pathway that could accelerate development and market entry. Enterprise Singapore (ESG) works closely with stakeholders to help Singapore firms understand and navigate the regulatory changes. ESG’s executive director for China, Kow Juan Tiang, said the market is very complex and it is important for Singapore companies to understand the complexity, so they can better prepare for challenges and identify new business opportunities.
