The investment, which is due to be completed in 2012, will add nearly 2,000sqm of laboratory space at the facility in the Tuas Biomedical Park to support Lonza’s contract cell line development, processing and analytical services businesses.

Janet White, head of development Services, Lonza told in-Pharmatechnologist.com that: “Increasing demand in Asia drives us to Singapore where we have a strong relationship with the government and are already in the process of building a biomanufacturing hub."

White added that: “For Lonza, offering manufacturing and development services from one plant makes sense," and going on to say that the firm will hire employees locally in line with customer demand

Lonza has not said if the decision to expand the Singapore site will have any impact on the facility in Slough, UK that is the current base for its custom biomanufacturing unit.

Singapore growth

News of the Lonza's expansion plan follows just weeks after Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) raised its estimates for the country’s economic growth to between 5 and 7 per cent, citing the biomedical sector as a driver.

At the time MTI deputy secretary Kwek Mean Luck told Channelnewsasia.com that: "The manufacturing sector rebounded by 75 per cent on a (quarter-on-quarter) sequential basis.

“This was due to a strong boost from the biomedical manufacturing (BMS) cluster, resulting from a higher value-added mix of active pharmaceutical ingredients being produced.

This was echoed by analysts one of whom, Wu Kun Lung from Credit Suisse, highlighted Lonza among the most important contributors.

"This year, there are new plans by Lonza, GSK. And last year, we have new expansion by Roche and we already seen how much it can boost GDP growth. And given this year, we have more new plants coming on stream. There definitely could be more upside surprises here."