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CHICAGO: Bio-Xcell, a biotechnology park launched in Nusajaya last September, has attracted investments of about RM100 million each from its first three tenants – Glycos Biotechnologies Inc (USA), MGM Ingredients AG (Switzerland), and a listed India-based pharmaceutical company, which declined to be named citing regulatory reasons.

The three companies will each occupy an acre of land on a built-to-lease arrangement for a minimum of three years tenancy.

Three memorandums of application were signed on Tuesday, witnessed by Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili.

“All three have submitted their specifications and requirements of their facilities to be built in Bio-Xcell. Depending on their requirements, it should take around one year to one and a half years to complete,” said BiotechCorp CEO, Datuk Iskandar Mizal Mahmood, after the signing ceremony here.

GlycosBio specialises in biotech feedstock technology and aims to convert palm oil biomass into high value chemicals and by-products. It will have a biochemical plant and a research and development (R&D) facility in Bio-Xcell.

MGM Ingredients converts by-products in the agriculture industry to create staple foods such as bread with improved nutritional value. Its presence in Bio-Xcell involves a state-of-the-art facility to produce its range of products.

“The participation of the three companies across the industrial, pharmaceutical and agriculture sector sets a good start for the ecosystem. Their business activity supports our commitment to promote environmental, food and health sustainability,” said Iskandar.  

Bio-Xcell, which is a 60:40 venture between BiotechCorp and UEM Land Holdings, will cost up to RM1 billion.

The 72-acre park will be developed in three stages, with the first stage involving the development of a 30 acre-parcel for two or three anchor companies.

The three newly signed investments were not considered anchor companies, with only one acre of occupancy each, said Iskandar. According to him, BiotechCorp is in the midst of securing three foreign anchor companies and hoped to make an announcement on it by year-end.

Under the Bio-Xcell’s built-to-lease scheme, anchor companies will occupy a minimum of 2.5 acres with a minimum tenancy period of 15 years. To date, there is no presence of local companies in Bio-Xcell.

But Iskandar stressed that the decisions to bring in any foreign companies also depended on the availability and capabilities of local companies to support and leverage on them, thus creating a conducive ecosystem.

“More than a biotech park, we aim to build a conducive biotech ecosystem to support manufacturing and R&D for the industrial and healthcare biotech sectors.

“It is a platform where we pool the soft infrastructure — financial incentives, human capital development, business and operational set-up services and attractive leasing models, along with the hard or physical infrastructure,” Iskandar said.

Utilities run by GE
A memorandum of collaboration was also signed on Tuesday between BiotechCorp and General Electric International Inc (GE) for strategic collaborations in Bio-Xcell.

Under the agreement, GE will develop a centralised utilities facility (CUF) that manages utilities for the whole park on a build-operate-own model.

Iskandar declined to reveal the size of investments, saying that it will depend on the tenants. GE Security worked with UEM Land to supply security solutions to Nusajaya in 2009.

The collaboration agreement also includes provisions of GE’s life sciences and industrial equipments via leasing scheme and investments in biotech innovations and product pipelines.

Ongkili hoped that the foreign investments would accelerate the commercialisation of research and intellectual property in the biotechnology space.

According to him, only 5% of all public R&D were commercialised in the last five years. “Under the 10th Malaysia Plan, we hope to double this amount to 10%,” said Ongkili.


This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, May 6, 2010.

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