SINGAPORE, Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Cytiva, a global leader in life sciences, has launched its BioChallenge competition in Southeast Asia to support the development of small to medium-sized biotech companies. The competition focuses on areas such as cell engineering, process development, isolation, and purification. Winners will receive up to SG$200,000 in Cytiva’s FastTrak™ services to help them scale their operations, manage risks, and expedite their time to market.

Since its inception in 2018, the BioChallenge has facilitated the research, development, and commercialization of over 130 biotech projects worldwide, providing more than USD$4 million in products and services. Alongside the BioChallenge, Cytiva supports Southeast Asia’s biotech community through the Cytiva Experience Learning Lab (CELL), which opened in Singapore in 2021. CELL has already conducted over 70 training sessions with academic and research institutions, focusing on cutting-edge bioprocessing and therapeutic production techniques.

Firman Ghouze, Marketing Director for Asia Pacific at Cytiva, noted the increasing role of small and medium-sized companies in biologics development. According to the FDA, 63% of approved biologics come from smaller ventures, highlighting the critical innovation they bring to the field. “The BioChallenge aims to address the resource and scalability limitations these companies face, particularly early-stage biotechs,” Ghouze said. He added that by launching the competition in Southeast Asia, Cytiva seeks to foster collaboration with governments, think tanks, and institutions to help startups bring advanced innovations to market more quickly.

A 2021 Global Biopharma Resilience Index, conducted by Cytiva and the Financial Times’ research arm Longitude, identified manufacturing agility and R&D collaboration as key challenges for biopharma startups. The survey of 1,165 industry executives and policymakers from 20 countries emphasized the need for startups to adopt scalable operations early to reduce costs and accelerate development.

The BioChallenge is open for applications until December 31, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. SGT. More information, including terms and conditions, can be found on Cytiva’s website: https://info.cytivalifesciences.com/biochallenge-registration.html.

About Cytiva BioChallenge:
Cytiva’s BioChallenge competition fosters collaboration and open innovation among governments, institutions, and biotech startups, helping early-stage companies scale efficiently, reduce risks, and shorten the path to market. The competition is open to small and medium-sized biotech companies in Southeast Asia that are running pre-clinical or clinical-stage projects. Applications are assessed on criteria such as project rationale, experimental design, and potential business impact. Five finalists will be selected, with previous winners including VivaZome, Medipost, and Genexine.

About Cytiva:
Cytiva is a global life sciences leader working with researchers, developers, and manufacturers in biotherapeutics, cell and gene therapies, and emerging technologies like mRNA. With a team of nearly 10,000 associates across 40 countries, Cytiva helps its customers accelerate drug discovery, research, and manufacturing with speed, flexibility, and efficiency.