BY DAWN TAY

PHARMACEUTICAL giant GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK's) $600-million vaccine plant in Tuas, which opened yesterday, created 200 jobs for people such as technicians and engineers.

There was more good news when the company announced a $30-million endowment fund for graduate students looking to further their studies in green chemistry - which refers to the design of chemical products and processes that cut back on the use of hazardous substances - and health-care policy.

The Economic Development Board (EDB) will put a further $20 million into the fund, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who was the guest of honour at the plant's opening ceremony yesterday.

The plant is the result of years of hard work to lay Singapore's foundation for biologics manufacturing, said PM Lee.

Biologics are biological products used to treat diseases and injuries.

When Singapore decided to break into biologics manufacturing in 2000, pharmaceutical companies questioned if Singapore could make the 'difficult transformation' from manufacturing chemical drugs to biologics, PM Lee said.

'Biologic drugs are larger and more complex. Different worker skill sets and more sophisticated technologies are required in their manufacture,' he said.

GSK vice-president Emmanuel Amory said that the company picked Singapore as the location for its first vaccine plant in Asia because of the country's 'skilled workforce'. 'We were very pleased to find a highly-educated people whom we could develop quickly,' he said.

The 85,000 sq m plant, the size of around 70 Olympic-sized swimming pools, will produce pneumococcal vaccines for children, which can protect against life-threatening diseases like meningitis and pneumonia.

The first commercial batch of biologics is expected to be ready in 2011 and will be exported to places like Europe and Australia.

It is not the first time that GSK has put up money to help students here. Its first endowment fund, worth $50 million and which helped sponsor undergraduates' and postgraduates' studies, ended in 2000 after 10 years.

This time, the company will fund graduate research in the areas of green chemistry and health-care policy, which are industry areas where 'Singapore can carve out true leadership positions', said GSK chief executive Andrew Witty.

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