Today, the company has grown the local R&D team to more than 100 members, which supports various corporate projects globally. The effort requires a broad range of expertise and capabilities across multiple science and engineering domains.
The company employs a “hub-and-spoke” strategy where Singapore-based design firms, universities and research institutions play significant roles in supporting the development of instrument platforms. Key partners include publicly funded research institutions at A*STAR, universities and academic clinical centres. The projects cover a wide range of areas, including synthetic biology, cancer biomarkers, diagnostics, and cell lines for biologics drug production.
The Singapore team has developed and launched more than 25 instrument models in the last five years. These include the Qubit™ 3.0 Fluorometer, the versatile ProFlex™ PCR system, the compact SimpliAmp® thermal cycler and, most recently, the E-Gel™ Power Snap Electrophoresis Device and Power Snap Camera.
In addition, the company’s first cloud-enabled instrument was developed by the Singapore team, a major milestone in the push to enhance lab productivity. The Applied Biosystems™ QuantStudio™ 3 and 5 Real-Time PCR systems allow users to remotely monitor their experimental runs and results in real time on their mobile devices. On this single platform, they can also perform various forms of preliminary analysis with a suite of professional analytical tools at their disposal.
“We engage multinationals and small enterprises in rapid prototyping of new design concepts, subsystem/module designs and, where appropriate, we utilise their in-house ‘off-the-shelf’ designs. In many instances, these relationships blossom into mass production of sub-assemblies,” said Dr Calvin Boon, Senior Director for Singapore R&D, on collaborating with Singapore-based organisations.
R&D is just one part of the company’s operations in Singapore. The global leader in the development and manufacturing of scientific instruments and equipment has more than 1,200 staff spread across its manufacturing, R&D and regional headquarters teams working out of Singapore.
