Govt's Biotech Corp raises phase 2 investment to RM20b

Business & Markets 2013
Written by Bernama
Friday, 26 April 2013 18:14
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CHICAGO (April 26): Malaysian BioTECHNOLOGY [] Corporation Sdn
Bhd (BiotechCorp) has increased its target investment for Phase 2 of
the National Biotechnology Policy to RM20 billion from RM9 billion
previously.
Its Chief Executive Officer Mohd Nazlee Kamal said BiotechCorp has
already attracted investments worth RM12.72 billion, surpassing the
target for the entire five-year phase from 2011 to 2015.
Speaking to reporters here today, Mohd Nazlee said the agency aims to
attract RM1.75 billion worth of investments in Malaysia’s biotechnology
sector this year.
"We are still committed to bringing in more investment by the Ministry.
We think we can do more than that, but attracting investment is hard
work and some portion we don't have control over, depending on market
conditions, but it would be marvellous if we can achieve the target," he
said.
Mohd Nazlee said this is where events such as BIO Chicago 2013 can
be a very effective platform for Malaysia to profile the value proposition
of the country’s bioeconomy and attract more investment.
"For the past three days, we were involved in extensive business
meetings and partnering engagements.
"We see strong interest from global companies to form collaborations and partnerships with BiotechCorp and Malaysian
companies," he said.
On intellectual property (IP) development for biotech companies, Mohd Nazlee said Malaysia is well on track, bolstered by
strong IP laws.
"In fact, patent registration in Malaysia is quicker than in the US. Getting patent approval is about 30 months in Malaysia
compared to a couple of years here," he added.
The agency is now looking at an IP evaluation model that allows businesses to put up their IP rights as collateral.
"BiotechCorp is developing an IP evaluation team for biotechnology so that it can help banks to do IP evaluation," Mohd
Nazlee said.