ClavystBio, a company established by CLA Real Estate Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek, has launched, with its mission to accelerate the commercialization of life sciences discoveries and innovation in Singapore.
The life sciences sector is set to be a key driver of Singapore’s future economy. The sector currently employs 25,000 workers and contributes to around a fifth of the country’s manufacturing GDP.
ClavystBio said it intends to build on this momentum by supporting early-stage companies, starting with the emerging areas of cell and gene therapy, biomarkers and digital health. To help companies address the lengthy and complex challenges involved in bringing novel solutions to market, ClavystBio said it is introducing an integrated and synergistic approach through three pillars.
ClavystBio’s three pillars
The first is collaboration. It hopes to create programs with private and public partners to develop industry and market expertise, drive intellectual property translation and ensure commercial success.
Venture is the second pillar. ClavystBio aims to champion early-stage companies and catalyze new start-ups by providing investment and working with them to secure leadership talent, access resources, and connect with strategic partners and follow-on investors.
Under the build pillar, the company is looking to develop a purpose-built innovation district with collaborative life sciences infrastructure and specialized facilities. It will do this through a vibrant of academic, investor, start-up, industry, and professional partners supporting all stages of company growth.
ClavystBio has already made $220 million in investment commitments to six early-stage companies and three venture partners to date.
Six companies
The six companies are Allay Therapeutics, CoV Biotechnology, Engine Biosciences, Hummingbird Bioscience, Medisix Therapeutics and Sunbird Bio.
Allay Therapeutics is a U.S. and Singapore-based biotech company working on ultra-sustained analgesic products to transform post-surgical pain management and recuperation for patients and physicians.
Its technology platform combines validated non-opioid analgesics and biopolymers to create dissolvable candidates that provide pain relief within a targeted site over weeks.
CoV Biotechnology is developing booster vaccines and therapeutics effective against variants of SARS-2 beta coronavirus.
The company’s booster pan-sarbecovirus vaccine will protect against future variants and future crossovers of related coronaviruses from animals to humans.
Engine Biosciences is a Singapore and U.S.-based company developing precision medicine-based therapies for cancer and other diseases, using machine learning and large-scale experimental biological data generation and testing to decipher complex genetic networks.
The company’s proprietary technology platforms seek to integrate differentiated human and disease datasets, machine learning, combinatorial genetics experiments, and in-house drug discovery to identify and develop promising drug targets for specific patient genetic and treatment contexts. Engine Biosciences’ technologies enable researchers and drug developers to feed and advance their therapeutics pipelines to treat unmet medical needs across a range of diseases.
Hummingbird Bioscience is a Singapore and U.S.-based clinical-stage biotech company that develops precision therapies against hard-to-drug targets to improve treatment outcomes.
The company’s rational antibody discovery platform uses data-driven computational and systems biology to discover and engineer precision therapies in oncology and autoimmune diseases.
MediSix Therapeutics is a Singapore immune engineering company that develops novel cellular therapies to address T-cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases.
The company has developed a technology platform on genetic engineering that utilizes immune engineering approaches to generate T-cells for effective immune cell therapies.
Sunbird Bio develops next-generation diagnostic platforms to provide faster and more accurate outcomes in molecular diagnostics across a wide range of diseases including infectious diseases, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.
It aims to improve lives by providing clarity and accessibility in diagnostic testing to better inform healthcare decisions and outcomes.
New CEO
ClavystBio is led by chief executive officer, Christopher Laing, who is transitioning from his role as vice dean, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Duke-NUS Medical School.
“Ecosystem-building emphasizes connectivity and access to talent and resources, which makes Singapore an attractive place for life sciences companies to start and grow. Our unique model brings funding, partnerships and an optimal physical environment to life sciences companies, so that they can accelerate their pathway to commercialisation and help benefit end-users or patients more quickly,” Laing said.
Partnering 2030: The Biotech Perspective 2023
