News at Home
AgBiotech & Food
Rice consumption has been decreasing of late, from 80kg per person annually in the 1990s to 72kg now. This has been due to many misconceptions about the Asian staple, like the high carbohydrate content was bad for health and other unfounded beliefs. Universiti Putra Malaysia’s (UPM) Department of Food Science lecturer Associate Prof Dr Sharifah Kharidah Syed Muhammad is a woman on a mission to dispel such baseless notions and reinstate the supremacy of rice as a major food staple with hard facts. To dispel such myths and add value to rice, Bernas has teamed up with UPM and invested RM5 million for research and to set up the UPM-Bernas Food Analysis Laboratory, which is headed by Dr. Sharifah Kharidah.
  
 
Recent developments in the field of oil palm products have the local giant introducing 20 new palm-oil based products during Minggu Amanah Saham Malaysia 2007. The products, including nutraceuticals, herbs and cooking oil, will be showcased during the event which began on April 20 in Kuantan, Pahang, organised by state-owned fund manager Permodalan Nasional Bhd. Golden Hope Plantations, which owns 200,000ha of oil palm estates in Malaysia and Indonesia, spends RM16 million a year on research and development, and is a company under Permodalan Nasional Bhd group.
             

On the other hand, oil palm planting materials have been given a boost as Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd launched its new bi-clonal Dura and Pisifera (DxP) planting materials. The new planting materials were developed by Guthrie Biotech Laboratory Sdn Bhd in Port Dickson to meet the increasing demand for oil palm clones. The new bi-clonal Dura and Pisifera (DxP) planting materials has been stated to increase potential yield through the use of top performing duras and pisiferas in the form of clones compared with normal DxP that came from a combination of many parental palms.
             
Health & Medical
In recent advances in the medical field, Malaysia is aiming to get a bigger share of the billions of ringgit that pharmaceutical companies spend on clinical trials. About US$10 billion (RM35 billion) was spent on clinical trials around the world last year, and the Ministry of Health is looking into making the country a regional hub for the billion ringgit sector. The country is well-positioned for this sector as it has 14 Clinical Research Centres (CRCs), excellent hospital infrastructure, a large multi-ethnic population and strong government support, according to Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican. These research centres, which are located in each state, will facilitate access to more than 50 well-equipped general and district hospitals and more than 100 health clinics, which are potential sites for clinical trials.
 

On the topic of testing kits, Malaysian BioDiagnostic Research (MBDR) is also putting out great aims, to find a way to diagnose typhoid reliably in a short time. This is important, for the infected individual to be quarantined and treated faster, as conventional methods takes two to fourteen days to get results with variable sensitivity. Its recent invention, TyphiDOT does just that and will help to indicate the status of acute infection, convalescence or previous exposure, by detecting both IgG and IgM antibodies.
 
University Sains Malaysia’s Doping Control Center has unveiled a testing service for newborns which can specifically detect about 25 disorders in four different categories – amino acid metabolism, urea cycle, organic acid and fatty acid oxidation. The test will allow parents to screen for metabolic disorders and results take fewer than three days to be obtained. To date, no hospital in Malaysia offers such comprehensive testing, and the service is slated to be available soon to all private and public hospitals and clinics in the country at a cost of RM85.
             
Investment & Industry
Investors are given a chance to support the strong growth in the global agriculture sector, as AmInvestment Bank Bhd lauched its AmGlobal Agribusiness Fund. The fund will be used to invest in global companies involved in agricultural activities which have been chalked for strong growth. The fund, initially offered at RM1.00 per unit, has been based on Germany’s DWS Global Agribusiness Fund, and is expected to provide returns up to 22%. As of April 2007, AmInvestment manages 32 unit trust funds totalling RM16 billion such as AmCash Management which is Malaysia’s first management trust.
Priorities at home is what is on the mind of StemLife Bhd managing director, Sharon Low, as she discusses about their strategic plans for 2007. The leader in stem cell storage and therapy in Malaysia, StemLife is committed to improve its existing branches within this year, before it launches into widening its distribution channels next year. In turn, StemLife's overseas expansion may see the group tying up with local partners in the northern, central and southern parts of Asia.
             
More growth is expected in Kulim, Kedah, as a biotechnology cluster to house local and foreign biotechnology companies will be set up at the Kulim Hi-Tech Park (KHTP) by the end of this year. A 10ha site has been earmarked by the park's operator Kulim Technology Park Corp Bhd (KTPC) for the proposed cluster, and negotiations have begun with several local and foreign biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms about investing at the park.
             
Policy
It is evident that the Government is pulling out all stops to ensure biotechnology’s growth in the country, as Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak implies that Malaysia would be willing to provide customised incentives to attract biotech companies. Speaking to reporters at Bio International Convention 2007 in Boston, Najib headed a 350-strong delegation to the world’s largest annual biotechnology gathering in an attempt to identify trends in the global stage as well as to attract biotechnology outsourcing, and has had fruitful returns with a total of 11 MoUs signed at the prestigious event. The global biotechnology market is valued at US$90 billion with 4,300 companies involved in the industry, employing over 233,000 high-end knowledge workers.
 
At the convention, the delegation was successful in providing the stem-cell research and development in Malaysia a great boost, as a memorandum of understanding between India and Malaysia was signed for a venture on stem cell research. The MoU is expected to provide the much needed boost to kick start stem cell research in the country, and has been signed by Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation and Manipal Group. The MoU will have a Manipal Group subsidiary to be established in Malaysia to spearhead stem-cell research.
  
In other news, a new policy has been unveiled to encourage the development of intellectual properties. The new policy will see the setting up of a RM5 billion fund, an academy and a special court to deal with disputes. According to Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the Intellectual Property Fund would promote IP growth, while the academy will increase the management capability by creating more experts in the field.