French MNC Sanofi to Invest S$638M in Construction of Digital Vaccine Production Facility in S’pore

Our country might be small, but this little island can hold many, many things.

We’ve got a (new!) Museum of Ice Cream, an indoor karting circuit, huge outdoor playgrounds and the crushing weight of Asian society expectations.

And in the coming future, we’ll even have a vaccine production facility here—the first of its kind in Asia!

Fully Digital Vaccine Production Facility

It looks like Singapore’s goal of producing vaccines locally has coming to fruition.

French multinational firm Sanofi is investing €400 million (~S$638 million) over five years to build a vaccine production centre in Singapore.

According to The Straits Times, the facility will be located in Tuas Biomedical Park and is expected to create up to 200 local jobs in areas such as logistics, quality control and assurance.

The production centre will mainly supply vaccines to the Asia region and will complement Sanofi’s manufacturing capacities in Europe and North America.

Currently, the facility is in its design phase and its construction is slated to begin in the third quarter of 2021. It is expected to be operational in 2026 once all qualifications and validations of the first manufactured vaccine have been completed.

So, What Can This Centre Do & How Does It Help Us?

The Tuas South facility will be able to produce three or four different types of vaccines at once as compared to other factories which can only produce one at this point in time. This is because the facility is designed around a key central unit housing several fully digitalised modules that allows for simultaneous production.

In addition, the company will make use of digital technologies and single-use systems (SUSs) in manufacturing vaccines, allowing multiple vaccines to be made in a single suite at lower costs.

The facility will also be able to leverage multiple vaccine manufacturing technology platforms based on different cell types, which allows for the flexibility to prioritise the production of a specific vaccine based on public health needs.

Interestingly, the site is also designed to be carbon neutral and to drastically reduce resource consumption and waste production in alignment with Sanofi’s environmental strategy.

Regional Centre Of Excellence

Sanofi’s press release also noted that the construction of the vaccine production centre will enhance Singapore’s position as a regional innovation hub for the healthcare industry.

The facility will be able to manufacture vaccines on a massive scale for Asia with the flexibility and agility to respond to future health emergencies.

Echoing the importance of such a production facility in addressing potential pandemics, Dr Beh Swan Gin, Chairman of the Economic Development Board (EDB), also noted that “Sanofi’s decision… is an endorsement of Singapore’s position as a leading centre for advanced manufacturing.”

Sanofi’s facility in Singapore will be one of the most technologically advanced vaccine-manufacturing facilities globally.

Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Seng added in a Facebook post that once the factory becomes operational, Singapore will have the full capability for end-to-end production of almost all kinds of vaccines.

“It will make us more resilient, physically and economically. It will also strengthen our position as part of the global vaccine value chain.”

Read his full post (including his punny opening!) here:

(Speaking of Chan Chun Sing, have you considered which side of the “civil war” you’re on?)

Feature Image: Sanofi