Covid-19 putting Singapore on global deeptech radar

Singapore

ARMBAND monitors. Rapid test kits. Vaccines. Artificial intelligence (AI) that can analyse thousands of CT scans in a flash.

Singapore's pioneering capabilities in such areas of deep tech have come to light in the global war to contain - and beat - the novel coronavirus.

This country has invested billions on nurturing research institutes, building top-class medical labs and developing deep-tech ecosystems, with the aim of harnessing the power of tech for good - and now the pandemic is putting these ecosystems to the test.

"Deep tech" refers specifically to technologies that grow out of substantial scientific advances and engineering innovation, in fields such as artificial intelligence, medtech, biotech and the "Internet of Things".

Companies in Singapore's deep-tech ecosystem have been abuzz in the last couple of months, as they seek to craft adaptations of existing technologies to help buttress the global response to the virus.

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Local medtech firm Mirxes, for example, has been mass-producing diagnostic test kits that were developed in a matter of just three weeks by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).

According to A*Star's figures on the kit's clinical sensitivity, it has so far been able to detect 100 per cent of the positive samples tested at TTSH. It can yield results in about 90 minutes.

Mirxes investor and director Isaac Ho, calling the kit the gold standard among tests, told The Business Times that the firm can churn out 100,000 tests each week, and is scaling up production to surpass 300,000 tests a week.

The tests go out to more than 10 nations, and to 80 per cent of hospitals in Singapore.

The key behind Mirxes' ability to scale up production this quickly for the needs of Singapore and beyond lies in its ownership of one of the world's largest PCR (polymerase chain reaction) labs, as well as various manufacturing facilities.

Other Singapore firms that have stepped up to the plate during this global crisis include Veredus Labs, Biolidics and Acumen Research Laboratories; there is also a team of researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School, which has developed various versions of kits to test for the virus.

Chik Wai Chiew, chief executive and executive director of Heritas Capital Management, which invests in deep-tech ventures, said this shows that Singapore's infrastructure was already in place to be able to scale deep-tech solutions quickly.

Labs had been built, and the equipment to rapidly prototype, manufacture and scale solutions were already in hand, he said.

Moreover, ecosystems are now mature enough to bring both private and public sectors to work together.

Mr Chik pointed out that research institutes have long adopted multi-disciplinary collaborations, powered by funding, to solve real-world problems.

Singapore-based AI startup 6Estates, for example, has come up with an AI-powered assistive CT-scan diagnosis platform.

The startup is a spin-off of NExT, a joint research centre of the National University of Singapore and Tsinghua University of China.

With the help of a team led by alumni at Tsinghua University - who provided medical knowledge and key domain expertise - 6Estates adapted its deep-learning and neural network models in just under two months to train the AI-assistive platform to recognise signs of the viral infection in patients' lungs.

Chest CT scans are not a new diagnostic tool for the novel coronavirus, but the leap offered by the AI platform is that it can read and process one scan - comprising 200 images - in 10 seconds, or 30 times faster than an experienced radiologist, said chief executive Luan Huanbo. The platform has an average accuracy rate of 84.7 per cent.

"This solution is particularly useful for countries and health facilities which face issues of test-kit availability or reliability, but have CT scanners readily available," said Dr Luan.

The rapid pace of innovation in this climate is underscored by the urgent need to "flatten the curve". In the study and analysis of the distribution, patterns and factors behind health and disease conditions, the curve depicts the projected number of new cases over a time period. The idea of flattening the curve is to spread out the number of new cases over a longer period, so that people have better access to care, and healthcare systems are not overwhelmed.

Industry players noted that regulatory processes that used to take years are now being accelerated, and agencies are more accepting of new developments.

Singapore-based Esco Aster is co-developing a chimeric vaccine for the novel coronavirus with other firms in Singapore and the US.

Chief executive Lin Xiangliang said that with the support of various governments, it hopes to accelerate its development, which would otherwise run into years.

The contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) arm of life-science company Esco Group is also working closely with collaborators to provide simple and effective test kits that can be used at home, just like pregnancy test kits are, said Mr Lin.

Within a month, the company developed and built test booths, mobile diagnostic labs and related containment devices such as makeshift isolation rooms for the novel coronavirus.

Digital therapeutics startup Biofourmis customised its Biovitals Sentinel platform to detect symptoms of deterioration in Covid-19 patients in just 10 days.

Patients need only to wear a biosensor on their arms, which will identify physiological changes that could point to an infection. This, in turn, enables medical professionals step in early with treatment.

The healthtech startup founded in Singapore rolled this out in less than three weeks, and it did so across the United States, Australia, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom.

Chu Swee Yeok, chief executive and president of EDBI, an investor in Biofourmis, said: "The way deep-tech companies are adapting and mobilising technology during this crisis is heartening, and encourages us to invest in more such of promising companies in anticipation of eventual recovery."

Deep tech at its core often requires specific equipment, specialised skills, and infrastructure. Talent and skill-sets across different fields in deep tech itself are disparate and distinct, industry players noted.

But some players in adjacent fields, as evidenced by the examples here, have been able to modify and adapt their core technologies for use against the current common enemy, the novel coronavirus.

These are founders who have had to put in a ton of hustle to get things done so quickly, in service of the community, said Bernadette Cho, general manager for talent investor Entrepreneur First Singapore.

"Their generosity of spirit and service is something we should amplify."