Boon Tong KOH

Executive Director (BTI) & Chief Industry Officer (BMRC)
Bioprocessing Technology Institute, A*STAR
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Prof Koh Boon Tong
Executive Director, Bioprocessing Technology Institute &
Chief Industry Officer, Biomedical Research Council,
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
 
Prof Koh Boon Tong joined A*STAR as Executive Director of BTI on 3 May 2021. With over 30 years of experience in the private sector, he had managed specialty chemicals, API operations and businesses in China and India. He comes onboard with deep expertise in managing translational research teams, pharmaceutical operations, and businesses across Asia. He further possesses extensive knowledge in GMP operations encompassing research, pilot, and manufacturing, through prominent roles at GSK and Lonza. Boon Tong graduated with a PhD from the National University of Singapore and is Adjunct Professor at Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT).
 
Boon Tong has also led the conceptualisation and implementation of numerous manufacturing plant start-ups in various parts of China. He has sat on 7 company board directors across Asia including chairman and vice-chairman positions of joint venture companies.
 
Boon Tong has served concurrently as the Executive Director of the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Initiative (NATi), a national platform, from October 2023 to 9 May 2025. In this role, he has been instrumental in shaping and executing Singapore's research and development strategies and roadmap for nucleic acid therapeutics and manufacturing. His efforts have been key to building differentiated and globally competitive capabilities to address critical challenges within the industry.

Speech title & Synopsis

Driving mRNA manufacturing activity in Singapore.

mRNA manufacturing is identified as important new modality to Singapore's biopharmaceutical ecosystem, accelerating development of novel vaccines and therapeutics, and strengthening the country's position as a global manufacturing hub for nucleic acid therapeutics.
 
Singapore is actively driving mRNA manufacturing activity through initiatives like the national Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Initiative (NATi), coupled with strategic investments by companies such as BioNTech.
 
The Singapore Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) led a pilot project to pull capabilities across multiple A*STAR research institutes for mRNA manufacturing, with a set production target of functional mRNA complete with QC. This effort has grown from strength to strength over the course of 4 years, culminating in the establishment of a full-fledged mRNA BioFoundry to support preclinical translation.
 
With strong support from the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), A-Star and Wellcome Leap R3, the mRNA BioFoundry deepens Singapore’s capabilities in this important new therapeutic modality, and leverage on existing infrastructure to develop highly automated and end-to-end production capabilities. Importantly, a rapid-response production capability would enable Singapore to address future pandemic threats, ensuring effective responses to emergent health crises.
 
Besides the journey so far, further plans to develop next generation mRNA manufacturing processes would be shared, including efforts to be part of a global network to facilitate rapid, scalable production of therapeutics in preparation for the next global pandemic.