Catalist-listed AcroMeta Group Limited (Stock Code 43F.SI) an established specialist engineering service provider in the field of controlled environments serving mainly the healthcare, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, research, and academia sectors, has been much in the news recently. Besides its several successful partnerships and ventures for its coworking laboratory business, it continues to garner contracts for the design and construction of high containment biosafety level laboratories.
On 15 August 2023, it announced that wholly owned subsidiary company Acromec Engineers Pte Ltd has been awarded a S$19 million contract for the design and construction of a 1,500 sqm high containment biosafety level research laboratory. The facility is designed for research on highly infectious pathogens potentially carried by infected animals and spread through airborne transmission.
laboratory using modular panels for both reliability and durability to withstand long periods of hard usage and repeated commissioning. Construction would be carried out in a ‘live’ building with many existing tenants without affecting their operations. The facility is expected to be completed and certified by 2024 and will be compliant with WHO and MOH high containment facility standards.
The award adds to AcroMeta Group’s established track record in the design and construction of high-containment biosafety level laboratories for the biomedical sciences industry. It has designed and built several high biosafety level R&D, laboratories, and manufacturing facilities for biomedical companies, such as 10X Genomics, Integrated DNA Technologies, and GenScript.
Singapore emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic as one of the countries that scored high marks for its handling of the crisis. Every aspect of the pandemic was systematically studied, monitored, and appropriate actions were taken– from procurement and cold storage of vaccines for the entire resident population to laboratory testing and identification of each mutated variant of the virus as it evolved.
But the pandemic also revealed the need for Singapore to be prepared for future pandemics. The government has implemented the findings of the Covid-19 White Paper published on 8 March 2023 which detailed the 7 lessons to be learned from the pandemic and implemented a pandemic readiness strategy. The strategy takes a whole-country approach and involves participation by, and collaboration with the private sector as well as with the entire population.
Laboratories for the testing, identification, and carrying out of research with live virus is a vital link in the Singapore government’s readiness strategy for future pandemics. These laboratories are not standard laboratories but highly specialised facilities; the design and construction of which can only be done by a handful of controlled environments experts such as Acromec.
The vibrant and diverse biomedical sciences ecosystem in Singapore, which is supported by strong public-private partnerships, world-class infrastructure, and a conducive regulatory environment has attracted many multinationals to set up their R&D laboratories and manufacturing facilities here. Well-known names that have a presence in Singapore include GSK, Pfizer, Sanofi, Novartis, Amgen, and MSD.
As Singapore’s status as an R&D, manufacturing, and marketing hub for the biomedical sciences grows, AcroMeta Group is positioned to benefit from the design and construction of high-containment biosafety-level laboratories.
For original article, please visit: Group’s Laboratory Construction Business Rides on Singapore’s Pandemic Readiness Strategy - Investor-One