Essay Example on Medical Science Industry in Singapore

Singapore is the topmost medical science technology hub in the Asian continent. The medical device industry is aiming at SG$ 5 billion output in manufacturing. The government has a target of about 1 million patients from foreign countries annually contributing US $ 1.55 billion or one percent GDP in Singapore. The country has around 30 medical technology firms globally including those carrying out research and development (Marjanovic & Chonaill, 2010). Singapore's medical industry contributes around SG $4.3 billion and 9000 jobs to its economy. Singapore produces 70percent of world's microarrays, 10 percent contact lenses and half of the global mass spectrometers and thermal cyclers. The country has greatly offered support to research, enterprise projects and innovation in medical industry leading to diverse discoveries which Singapore is distributing to the global medical communities. The innovations include; Creation of a video game headset to assist children having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) focus. The technology measures brain actions using a headband which sends feedback to the computer through Bluetooth (Sandstrom, 2009). The innovation concentrates on mental activities which relate to the action than memory hence unique compared to various brain-reading videos. There is startup Healint technology that ensures easy monitoring of migraines and communicates the symptoms to the doctor. Startup Healint has an app called Migraine Buddy which helps patients track their symptoms and information such as triggers, medications, intensity and various lifestyle factors and report to the doctor. Singaporean doctors have created first Asia's genetic eye disease test. The innovation enables patients to no longer wait for the corneal stromal dystrophy disease which causes blurred vision and corneal pain but to test and start early treatment as soon as possible (Epps, 2006). The medical industry has developed a new app called Smart Elderly Monitoring and Alert System which helps caregivers in monitoring the elderly who stay alone. The program is installed in the elders home to study their patterns of living such as time spent in certain areas and it picks up abnormal long time periods and sends text messages to the caregiver and able to come and check the senior (Pocock & Phua, 2012).

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The key analyses to be undertaken in the report include the innovation activities, the context for innovation, the geography of innovation, the factors that promote the innovation, factors that constrain the innovation, legal protections for the innovations and the effects of the innovations in the medical science industry.

Timeline

Dateline or Milestone Task/Activity

18th May 2018 Structuring of report framework

1st June 2018 A complete analysis of the general innovations in the industry

8th June 2018 Complete analyzing the context of the innovations

13th June 2018 (Milestone) Complete analyzing factors that influence innovations

19th June 2018 Complete analyzing the legal provisions protecting innovations

25th June 2018 (Milestone) Complete analyzing the impacts of the innovations on the industry

15th July 2018 Finalize on the conclusion and recommendations of the report

23rd July 2018 Proofread and make corrections on the report

30th July 2018 Submission of Report via Turnitin

The greatest milestones in the report include completion of the analysis on factors that influence the innovation process and the general effects of the innovations in the industry. The two aspects are considered milestones as they form the backbone of the report focused on determining the progress of innovations in the medical science industry and the country at large. The two aspects also determine the recommendations and conclusions of the report.

Weaknesses

In analyzing open innovations in the medical science industry in Singapore I realized that I have challenges in analyzing Singapore's innovations in the medical science industry using the open innovation model. This is as a result of my poor understanding of the model. However, to counter on the weakness, I intend to do extensive research towards understanding the model before using it in analyzing the innovations in the selected industry. The other point of weakness is in the analysis of the theories that support the innovations in the medical science industry. Identification of associated theories proved to be a challenge is it created confusion on my understanding of the subject. To manage the weakness I will first be focused on understanding the context of the innovations which in turn will help me highlight the theories that supported them. Deciding on the basis of writing the conclusions and recommendations of the report seems to be confusing making it another weakness. The aspects used in analyzing innovations in the industry are many thereby expanding the scope of the research which in turn makes it appear wide and confusing. However, with a proper understanding of the various aspects, the weakness can be countered as the extent of the innovation, influencing factors, and its implications on the society and country at large can be used as a basis for making recommendations and conclusions. The lack of confidence in undertaking report analysis tasks is another crucial weakness that that may influence the success of the report. Without confidence, understanding of the report expectations is affected thereby affecting the overall outcome. To overcome the weakness it is important that I focus on the task at hand and overlook the lack of experience in undertaking analytical research.

Theories

Research and Development Theory

Marjanovic, S., & Chonaill, S. N. (2010). Health and Medical Research in Singapore. Health Research Systems, 12-35.

According to the research by Marjanovic & Chonaill (2010), medical science research and development in Singapore began in 1972 when GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) formed the first pharmaceutical manufacturing unit in which produced antibiotics in Singapore and GlaxoWellcome in 1979 invested in the chemical plant. GSK launched the first research facility in Asia Pacific region for neurodegenerative infections. GSK's next venture in Singapore will cost approximately US$ 70 million on pilot plant research and development which will convert molecular experiments into drugs which are commercially viable. GSK Company has done various investments continuously in Singapore having production research and development units. Different pharmaceutical companies worldwide like Pfizer, Novartis, Merck, and GSK have production units in Singapore (Marjanovic & Chonaill, 2010).

The medical industry in Singapore comprises of 40 and more firms having over 4,000 workers medical technology corresponding number is 60 and more companies with over 6,000 workers in 2006.in total life science section there are 10,000 employees spread throughout the 100 companies implying an increase from 24 firms with 2,148 workers in 1980s. The significant increase is due to the presence of research and development which has led to the establishment of various manufacturing units in Singapore (Loong, 2015). The pharmaceutical production output has also grown rapidly from 18% annually in 1980 to SGD 20.9 billion in 2006. According to the same study, Singapore value added has expanded at 18.8 % annually to SGD 12.4 billion in 2006. VINNOVA 2008 shows that, in comparison to other nations with a tradition of medical manufacturing units attraction, Singapore also is beneficial in attracting foreign life science firms research and development units (Drift, 2014). At least 25 multinational life science companies have developed research and development units dominant in medical technology since 2000 in Singapore. Such companies include; Applied Biosystems, Siemens Medical Instruments, and Becton Dickinson. Lilly Systems Biology has employed intensive computational biology use resulting from research which helps in discovery of new biomarkers, drug-targets, and understanding of its action in the cell (Marjanovic & Chonaill, 2010).

Joint Venture Theory

Epps, H. L. (2006). Singapore's multibillion dollar gamble. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 1139-1142.

According to a study by Epps (2006), Novartis the Swiss pharmaceutical company collaborated with the government of Singapore to establish the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases which focuses on some of the neglected tropical illnesses like drug-resistant tuberculosis and Dengue fever. The biomedical initiative in Singapore is also receiving support from a partnership with foreign institutions like Stanford and Johns Hopkins universities in the US, Japan's RIKEN Institutes, and Sweden's Karolinska Institute.

Various studies on National Institutes of Health states that Singapore's team up approach in medical science is beginning to yield fruits, for instance, the recent creation of a diagnostic kit responsible for avian influenza (H5N1). The kit was discovered by Veredus Laboratories Pte Ltd which enables accurate and rapid diagnosis of human avian flu cases, the kit is currently applicable in Indonesia. The partnership in the biomedical science is translating into revenues and jobs in Singapore. In 2005, 10,200 individuals received employment in the biomedical science sector which is believed to increase to 15,000 people by 2015 (Lambe, 2002). The highest revenue source currently is from drug production rather than established biotech industry. There is also rise in medical science manufacturing output surpassing the 2005 S$12 billion targets yearly. John Hopkins Medicine International together with National Care Group emphasized on continued partnerships towards advancing cancer care in Singapore after 20 years of joint ventures in associated medical research which have proved to be successful in the past and so will be in the future (Yeo, 2015). Such new commitments confirm that Joint ventures are a way to better and efficient innovations in the medical science industry (Pocock & Phua, 2012).

Report Framework

Abstract

Introduction

Body

Framework for open innovation model

Context for innovation

The geography of innovation

Factors that promote the innovation

Factors that constrain the innovation

legal protections for the innovations

Effects of the innovations

Recommendations

Conclusion

References

Conclusion

Use the framework innovation model to identify major innovations in the medical science industry in Singapore

Analyze theories that support open innovations in the medical science industry

Identify and discuss the factors that influence innovation activities in Singapore and in the medical science industry in general

Critically analyze the overall innovation environment in Singapore compared to other countries

Determine the various effects of the identified innovations in the industry and countries economy.

The learning outcomes are beneficial as they limit the scope of analysis to a given area thereby enhancing understanding and avoiding deviations from the expected task.

References

Drift, S. v. (2014, January 20). Innovation Landscape in Singapore. Retrieved from https://www.rvo.nl/sites/default/files/2014/06/Singapore%20Innovation%20Landscape.pdf

Epps, H. L. (2006). Singapore's multibillion dollar gamble. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 1139-1142.

Lambe, P. J. (2002, June 4). Singapore's Innovation Journey. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265311200_Singapore's_Innovation_Journey