Innovation in a crisis: Singapore flexes biomed chops in the fight against COVID-19

Masking up to beat the spread

Regular surgical masks don’t cut it any more as demand grows for multi-use options. Local players are stepping up with tech-enhanced offerings. 

Pivoting to meet demand, local textile company Ghim Li Group – traditionally a producer of retail fashion – teamed up with Nanyang Technological University to create the Ultra Mask, a reusable three-ply face mask boasting antibacterial filtration capabilities. Its specifications are remarkable – Ultra Mask’s antimicrobial coating kills 99 per cent of bacteria, with a filtration efficiency of 95 per cent. Made from sustainably sourced organic cotton, it is ecologically-friendly to boot. Partnering the government, Ghim Li has supplied Ultra Masks to all Singapore households. It has also converted 20 per cent of its lines for production and can scale up to 25 million masks a month. Those who want to get their hands on these masks can do so with a click as Ultra Masks are shipped worldwide.

Using a technology often associated with niche prototyping applications, leading 3D printing service Siege Advanced Manufacturing is creating 3D-printed protective equipment of various shapes and sizes. Usually deploying for marketing events, Siege converted 90 per cent of the firm's 3D printing capacity to produce face shields and “ear saver” bands that alleviate discomfort for mask wearers. Helping businesses reopen, Siege is also producing protective counter shields for customer-facing workplaces. Siege’s innovations have gone regional too, as its face shield donations reach hospitals in Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia.

Tracking and tracing intelligently

To outpace the virus, the next symptomatic virus carrier will likely be detected not by man, but by machine.

Who knew wound-scanning technology could be adapted for temperature screening? AI-powered iThermo did just that, speeding up screening by five times. KroniKare, the healthcare startup behind iThermo, is a fast mover in AI deployment, co-creating this solution through public-private collaboration in just two weeks. The firm worked with Singapore’s Integrated Health Information System (IHiS) and national accelerator AI Singapore to scale, validate and obtain deployment approval. Cheaper and more portable than airport screeners, iThermo is now screening visitors at healthcare institutes, offices and malls island-wide.

To stay a step ahead of the virus, nationwide contact tracing is a priority. Singapore is the first in the world to deploy Bluetooth technology to do so. In an eight-week sprint in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH), technology agency GovTech launched the TraceTogether app, followed by wearable contact tracing TraceTogether tokens. The OpenTrace source code is freely available for developers across the world, building customisation, collaboration and public safety one line of code at a time.

Testing effectively at scale

Leaning in to our reputation for biomedical know-how, Singapore’s testing solutions are proving to be global forerunners.

Asymptomatic carriers amongst us are key loopholes that COVID-19 exploits. cPass is the world’s first rapid serology test kit to detect antibodies and diagnose even recovered patients within an hour. Invented by Duke-NUS Medical School, the team further co-developed and manufactured the kit with biotech company GenScript Biotech Corporation and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s Diagnostics Development Hub. Apart from plans to work with local biotech companies to increase production, cPass is launching worldwide with its kit available for purchase and research use globally.

Three new nasopharyngeal Covid-19 testing swabs designed by the National University of Singapore (NUS) are also meeting the global swabs shortage. One of these designs can be easily 3D-printed and two others manufactured at scale through injection moulding. These swabs are the result of a winning collaboration between NUS, National University Hospital and an industry consortium headed by the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster. Together, this gives Singapore local swab manufacturing capabilities, with a whopping 40 million swabs being produced in coming months.

Racing to a cure

As the world awaits an urgent vaccine solution, a made-in-Singapore cure for COVID-19 may not be too distant a dream.

TY027 is a potential treatment currently undergoing human clinical trials, completing pre-clinical studies and regulatory requirements under four months. TY027 was developed by Singapore-based company Tychan in partnership with the Singapore Ministry of Defence, MOH and EDB to fast track the development of a life-saving treatment.

Even when a vaccine is found, it may not be effective for those with weakened immune systems. That’s why our innovations need to be inclusive. Local start-up Proteona is formulating COVID-19 antibody treatments for immunity-compromised individuals. In partnership with Australia-based Vaxine and Flinders Medical Centre, Proteona taps on its proprietary ESCAPE^TM technology to profile immune responses. If successful, this will help vulnerable patients fight against not only the strain of coronavirus responsible for the current outbreak, but also future virus variants.

Diagnosing from a distance

While a cure is in the making, smarter telehealth solutions are helping us diagnose and detect remotely, offering consultations and tracking wherever people are.

Take Doctor Anywhere for instance. This Singapore-based company is bringing medical consultations online across Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Its COVID-19 Medical Advisory Clinic offers consultations through a full-suite app. Within five minutes, users can consult a doctor and get checked. And if a COVID-19 infection is suspected, the Doctor Anywhere Care Team is on hand to provide online and in-person assistance.

Taking therapeutic wearables to the next level, AI-powered Biovitals Sentinel looks like a smart watch, but works as a stealth COVID-19 tracker. Created by Singapore company Biofourmis, this remote therapeutic platform detects symptoms in COVID-19 patients using real-time data analytics. Already deployed in Hong Kong, Biofourmis is engaging governmental agencies and partners in the region to scale and apply its technology. 

Keeping our spaces COVID-free

As we do what we can to disinfect and sterilise the spaces around us, new technologies are making it easier to stay clean and safe.

eXtreme Disinfection roBot or XDBot by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) joins our front-liners in keeping public spaces sanitised and COVID-free. Built in just six weeks, the XDBot robot disinfects large surfaces semi-autonomously. This dramatically reduces risk for users in contact with potentially contaminated surfaces.

For disinfection of sensitive medical supplies and protective equipment, Plasmatreat’s Singapore laboratory applied atmospheric plasma technology in their sterilisation cabinet, built on the success of its anti-Ebola technology. This compact solution is helping to address mask shortages for users across Southeast Asia, Taiwan, India and Australia.

In a new normal of social distancing, Singapore innovators are tapping on e-commerce to close the gaps. Contactless retail solutions are one way to ensure business continuity as well as workforce and consumer safety. Supported by Alibaba Cloud, Nanyang Polytechnic’s Singapore Institute of Retail Studies and payment services group NETS, SCash Technologies has created a mobile e-commerce solution to help over 2,000 small and medium-sized enterprises digitalise. By setting up virtual stores, businesses can take orders from customers through a URL or QR code, keeping operations going and everyone safe.

Innovating for a better world

The road to recovery is uncertain and long. But what is certain is that tech and collaboration are helping businesses tackle this crisis with agility and smarts. Armed with a culture of innovation and a strong biomedical technology ecosystem, Singapore’s companies and institutions are punching above their weight in the global fight against COVID-19.