The Race to Build Singapore's Biotech Unicorns

MIRXES, known for its work in early cancer detection and backed by A*STAR and the National University of Singapore, became Southeast Asia's first biotech unicorn when it listed on the Hong Kong Exchange in 2025.

- Ayesha Siddiqui

It remains Singapore's only biotech unicorn to date. Despite the citystate's strong research base, established biotech ecosystem, and supportive policy environment, most Singapore biotech startups have not been able to scale to unicorn valuations. Why is this the case? Let's find out.

Singapore has one of the most advanced biotechnology industries. Singapore began building its biomedical sciences ecosystem over 20 years ago. Today, it is home to the regional headquarters of over 80 leading companies and also has 60 manufacturing plants and 30 R&D centres. Biomedical manufacturing is a key pillar of Singapore's diversified manufacturing industry, generating S$38.1 billion in output in 2023.

The city-state hosts regional headquarters for eight of the top 10 major pharmaceutical companies, including Abbott, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer. Singapore has also built deep research capabilities in Asian biology, around areas such as oncology, cardiovascular disease, ophthalmology, and skin and infectious diseases. This has given rise to a vibrant ecosystem in Singapore which saw a fourfold increase in locally incorporated biotech companies since 2015 according to the Economic Development Board (EDB).

However, translating this strong foundation into large, independent biotech companies has proven far more difficult. This is largely due to the nature of the industry itself, which is capital-intensive, highly regulated, and characterised by long development and validation cycles.