By Jessica Cheam

SINGAPORE continues to attract global players in the life sciences industry despite the downturn, with United States-based gene chip manufacturer Illumina being the latest to put down roots here.

The Nasdaq-listed company recently set up shop at a 32,000 sq ft plant in Woodlands and has invested up to US$20 million (S$30.5 million) in its Singapore operations.

This is set to increase as the plant begins to manufacture more gene chips, Illumina senior vice-president Joel McComb told The Straits Times.

The firm, founded in California in 1998, was ranked by US magazine Forbes as the fastest-growing technology company in the US in 2007.

Revenue shot up from US$360 million in 2007 to US$580 million last year. The firm projects a revenue in the US$700 million range for this year, said Mr McComb.

The company develops and manufactures gene chips, which help farmers and scientists identify unique genetic traits such as disease resistance in subjects from humans to agricultural crops and animals.

The gene chips also help scientists and health-care professionals test a patient's DNA to see if it matches a specific disease, thus enabling early diagnosis, said Mr McComb.

The company is already working with the Genome Institute of Singapore on a chip that will help the early diagnosis of patients who have a higher risk of gastric cancer.

'Demand for such products will only grow as they get cheaper, and health-care professionals increasingly provide this service to patients,' he said.

The manufacturing facility in Singapore, which began operations last quarter, produces about 30,000 to 40,000 gene chips per quarter, said Illumina Singapore general manager Derric Lee.

This makes up half of Illumina's total production. The other half is produced in the US. Both plants export to customers worldwide, he said.

The plant here currently employs 117 staff, but this is set to increase as the company ramps up its production numbers, said Mr Lee. The firm employs 1,800 people worldwide.

The Economic Development Board's executive director of biomedical sciences, Mr Yeoh Keat Chuan, said Illumina's new manufacturing plant is a 'significant milestone that will put Singapore on the map as a leading site for gene chip manufacturing'.

With this project, Singapore will be responsible for more than 50 per cent of the worldwide manufacturing capacity for gene chips.

'The shift towards personalised medicine means that gene chips will be increasingly used in pharmaceutical and biotech research as well as diagnostics.

'Illumina's new manufacturing facility will further complement the range of activities that Singapore supports for the advancement of human health,' said Mr Yeoh.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.