MALAYSIA TO MARKET BIOTECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA

NILAI (Malaysia), Aug 11 (Bernama) -- The Southeast Asian region promises a
wide market for Malaysia's biotechnology products, Deputy Science, Technology
and Innovation Minister Fadillah Yusof said Tuesday.

These countries presented better opportunities as their climate and
background of diseases were similar, making treatment using antibodies from the
same region a better idea, he said.

"The climate in the United States and Europe is different and bacteria
develop differently...so Southeast Asian countries will become our niche
market," he told reporters after visiting the Inno Biologics Biopharmaceutical
Complex in this southern district.

For example, he said, cancer treatment required expensive drugs imported
from the West, but the local biotechnology industry would offer a cheaper
alternative soon which could be sold to neighbouring countries.

The local biotechnology industry could not move to another area as its
development was still in the early stages, he added.

"Although we started late, we have advanced quickly and are catching up. In
some areas we are more advanced than Singapore and even surpass some
neighbouring countries in the industry," he said.

Fadillah said there were two ways the local biotechnology industry had
advanced -- by starting with research and producing new technology and
identifying the market demands before collaborating with other parties.

"It takes 10 years before a product can be commercialised, and five years
before a product is sold. We are now cooperating with a government subsidiary,
the InnoBio Group, which will be working with Cuba to produce a type of cancer
antibody," he said.

He added that Malaysia would build a biotechnology centre near the KL
International Airport with modern infrastructure and capable of housing at least
40 companies.

Currently, most biotechnology companies were operating in shophouses, which
was unsuitable, especially the air quality, he said.
-- BERNAMA