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Malaysia investing in biotechnology

At a press conference held on Tuesday, the head of Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation (BiotechCorp) announced the plans of Malaysian government for this year in the healthcare field. He said that they have put aside $3 billion for healthcare, and a large portion of it is going to biotechnology.

Malaysian government is also expecting that over 50 private companies invest large amounts of money in biotechnology by the end of 2009. “At the moment, fifteen clinical research organisations are conducting 500 trials. We expect the numbers to rise,” said Selvam Ramaraj, the vice president of BiotechCorp. “We are also working hard on finding foreign investitors in biotechnology,” concluded Ramaraj.

Source: hindu.com/2009/02/13/stories/2009021354831400.htm

Indonesia will invest in nanotechnology

According to a study conducted by the US National Science Foundation, the market value of nanomaterials will reach US$1 trillion by 2015. This industry branch is predicted to create jobs for over two million people all around the world. These facts urged the Indonesian government to find funds to support local scientists and researchers and thus make Indonesia an important factor in this field.

“We want nanotechnology to become a national priority,” said chairman of the Indonesian Society of Nanotechnology Nurul Taufiqu Rochman.
Jarnuzi Gunlazuardi from the University of Indonesia said that they can now produce an output level that suits their needs. The industry should no longer waste materials unnecessarily, and now they can maximize the quality of products. But Indonesian people aren’t fully aware of these possibilities, unfortunately.
“In our recent survey across 30 industries including textile, ceramics, chemicals and automotive, only 35 percent have applied nanotechnologies to their production process,” said Nurul.

In this moment, Indonesian scientists aren’t capable of doing many research due to a lack of funding. “There are several technologies that have been developed by Indonesian researchers, but so far they can only produce around one milligram of nano particles, whereas to be able to support an industry we will need at least several kilograms of the same material. We will give our best to find the funds and to support our researchers in order to find our place on the global nanotechnology map,” said Nurul.

UK may lose its biotechnology sector

United Kingdom may lose its biotechnology sector unless they introduce some changes to the system — new tax incentives, new ways of promoting the medicines, and adopting a new approach to regulation.

“The whole risk reward equation is seen as unbalanced and too risky. The equation just doesn’t work,” said Sir David Cooksey, a businessman who chaired a high-level government and industry group that sent out this warning to the public.

Beside tax breaks, the group called for an overhaul of drug approvals and an independent review of the operations of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. He also said that the UK is falling behind other European countries, and that’s not good.
“We are in grave danger of losing out to Europe,” he said. “We are at a watershed. Unless we tackle regulation and the approval of new drugs, we will never be able to develop drugs at prices considered affordable.”

Sir David also said that investors are backing out because they realized that they can’t make returns within a decade. He is also against an action started by Sir Chris Evans, the biotech entrepreneur and funder, who called up the government to inject money in this sinking field. “If you look at history, governments putting large amounts of money in and civil servants choosing the winners hasn’t had a great success.”

Source: ft.com/cms/s/0/3df9ad1e-e8ee-11dd-a4d0-0000779fd2ac.html