On the 5th (local time), at the MedTech Hub in Tuas Biomedical Park in western Singapore.
After taking the elevator up several floors and walking inside, a space unified in white from ceiling to floor to walls appeared. There was hardly any machine noise, and the interior temperature was kept constant. Beyond the glass windows that covered more than half the wall, researchers in white coats were moving boxes and kits. There were not many large-scale installations, but the routes for people and materials to move were tightly planned.
This is a facility where Singapore biotech corporations "MiRXES" produces early cancer detection kits. The kits made here number in the millions each year and are supplied to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Japan, and China.
The space was designed according to the "high-mix, low-volume" principle. That is because of the characteristics of kits that cannot be made in bulk and stockpiled at once. The enzymes, primers, and buffers that go into the kits lose performance over time.
Jeremiah DeCosta, MiRXES' vice president of operations, who guided the site, said, "We will soon bring in equipment that automatically packages up to 1,000 kits under refrigerated conditions."
DeCosta added, "Such a refrigerated conveyor system is not available on the market, so we jointly developed it over two years with the Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (ARTC) under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)," and "the total expense was about $1.8 million (about 2.655 billion won), including subsidies, which was possible thanks to support from the National Research Foundation (NRF) and others."
◇ Unicorn born from national research, next is "multi-cancer early detection"
MiRXES is the first "biotech unicorn" born in Southeast Asia. It listed on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) this year, pushing its valuation above $1 billion (about 1.475 trillion won). Last year's revenue was $20.3 million (about 29.9 billion won), which is not yet large in scale, but the growth pace is steep. In 2014, three researchers who were studying early cancer detection technology using microRNA (miRNA) at a research institute under A*STAR founded the company.
Its flagship product is GASTROClear. It is a liquid biopsy-based test using miRNA and is cited as the world's first blood test for early detection of gastric cancer to receive regulatory approval. It has been approved in Singapore and China, and it also received Breakthrough Device designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, it developed and supplied the Fortitude RT-PCR kit series and commercialized infectious disease diagnostic products.
Its clinical pipeline is also expanding rapidly. Single-cancer early detection kits targeting major solid tumors—including lung cancer (LUNGClear), colorectal cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, and pancreatic cancer—are in clinical stages, and using the same miRNA platform, the company is developing a "multi-cancer early detection" product that screens for several cancers with a single blood test.
Alongside early detection, it is also expanding into Precision Medicine. The pipeline includes APEX, a targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel that analyzes 58 genes, as well as COMPASS, an NGS test that comprehensively analyzes more than 1,000 genes.
◇ Government steps up not just as a supporter but as an "operator"… pre-investing in infrastructure to attract corporations
The MiRXES case goes beyond the performance of an individual corporations to show how Singapore has grown its bio industry. Since designating the biomedical industry as a national strategic industry in the early 2000s, Singapore has continued long-term investment in research and development. A total of 28 billion Singapore dollars (about 3.192 trillion won) has been allocated to the ongoing Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2025 plan (2020–2025).
The government's role does not stop at funding research. A*STAR handles technology validation and early commercialization at the stage where research results lead to business, and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) is responsible for attracting global pharmaceutical companies and startups. Enterprise Singapore (ESG) under the Ministry of Trade and Industry supports the introduction of equipment to improve productivity. MiRXES was able to introduce refrigerated automatic packaging equipment thanks to this division of functions.
Such policy support is particularly effective at the manufacturing stage. A representative example is the industrial complex Tuas Biomedical Park. By pre-building infrastructure such as roads, power, water, gas, and communications networks, corporations can start manufacturing immediately without a long preparation period. On the site of about 2.46 million square meters, global pharmaceutical and medical device corporations such as Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, GSK, and Abbott have moved in with local companies.
The MedTech Hub where MiRXES is located is a multi-tenant facility for medical device manufacturing corporations. Only the basic structure of the building and essential equipment are provided, and tenants design the interior themselves to suit research and development or manufacturing purposes. High ceilings, structures suitable for clean rooms, logistics loading bays, and freight lifts are conditions that allow early-stage companies to move into the manufacturing phase without making large capital investments in equipment.
At the manufacturing stage, rent is a variable no less important than technology. Vice President DeCosta said, "Even as the company has grown, the leasing terms have not changed much," adding, "it is why we say we will keep this site even if we expand globally." This suggests Singapore's industrial policy is conceived with not only the startup stage but also "post-growth" in mind.