The National Institute of Natural Products, Vaccines and Biologicals, otherwise known as 9BIO.

Hi-tech park is a magnet for biotech companies
A new industrial campus is already home to Malaysia’s largest biotechnology cluster and continues to grow

Vaccine supplies for Malaysia come entirely from foreign manufacturers at present. But that is set to change in the near future as the country starts to produce its own supplies at the recently established National Institute of Natural Products, Vaccines and Biologicals, otherwise known as 9BIO.

The institute has been set up by the Ministry of Health to spearhead the R&D for new vaccines for tropical diseases prevalent in the region, such as dengue, Nipah, enteroviruses and Japanese encephalitis. It expects to produce its first supplies by 2010, initially for local use, but later for export as well.

One of its core purposes will be to meet the need for vaccines whose ingredients and processes are in line with the religious requirements of the Muslim community. Indeed, it has been selected as the focal point for halal vaccine development within the Self Reliance Vaccine Production (SRVP) group of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC). A global halal accreditation centre has also been established on the site by the federal government’s Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM).

9BIO is the largest investment so far at a 784-acre industrial park located in Negeri Sembilan, close to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Malaysia’s first planned knowledge-based community, techpark@enstek has been developed as a state-of-the-art business campus for just the kind of high-tech innovation and scientific engineering enterprises around which the country is planning its future.

Set in a tropical landscape, it is specifically designed to cater for the needs of the biotechnology, advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) and information communication technology (ICT) industries.

“Ours is the only industrial park with that kind of focus,” says Syed Mohamed Ibrahim, Chief Operating Officer of TH Properties, which manages the site.

Syed Mohamed Ibrahim Chief Operating Officer of TH Properties

Both local and foreign companies have set up shop at techpark@enstek, which has already become the largest biotechnology cluster in Malaysia, incorporating agriculture and life science research, development and innovation, pharmaceuticals and development and manufacturing of related specialised equipment.

In addition to 9BIO, companies that have set up shop there include a tissue culture research firm and one of the largest sweetener manufacturing plants of its kind to be built in recent years. Herbal-based technology firms, Tropical Botanics Malaysia and Chemical Engineering Pilot Plant, have reserved space to set up the country’s first multi-herb extraction plant specialising in herbal chemical processes.

Mr Ibrahim says Malaysia now has a biotech centre to match anywhere else. “We are located in an area where you can capitalise on a wealth of biodiversity that is unique in the world,” he says. “You will also be able to tap into a huge market with India, China and south-east Asia at your doorstep.” He says other foreign biotech investors are waiting to step in after watching the project take off successfully during the first formative years.

The technology park is also intended to become the region’s leading centre for aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul. It will house aviation service centres, aircraft component resource centres and equipment manufacturers.

The park is the industrial component of a much wider project being developed by TH Properties that also includes a multi-billion ringgit integrated township extending over 5,116 acres and which when completed in 2025 is expected to have generated a gross development value of RM9.2 billion (£1.4 billion) and become home to 150,000 people.

A medical city is also being developed on the site at a cost of RM1.1 billion (£171 million) as a hub for the development of biotechnology in the bio-medical, bio-pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries. Intended to become the region’s prime education centre in medicine, it will house a university hospital, medical health research centre, medical complex, commercial centre, convention centre, hotels and student hostels under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) model.

A comprehensive logistics facility known as logispark@enstek is being established to offer integrated logistics support for their operations. Logistics and freight forwarding companies are being invited to operate within the logistics hub, which will have designated free commercial and industrial zones.