Health is wealth: Biomedical Sciences positioned as key driver of economy

Despite this optimism, the supply for BMS labs is expected to tighten.

Biomedical Sciences (BMS) are seen as the next step forward as the sector was seen to be a key driver of Singapore’s economy, according to a report published by Cushman & Wakefield.

This can be due to an increase in biotech investments and healthcare research. BMS rents also faced an increase over the last two years, with the industry also slated to continue this growth past 2022. 

“Singapore has continued to invest and nurture start-ups in the biotech sector which is rich in intellectual property and deep in technology. This is evidenced by the rapid growth of biotech start-ups over the past decade. In 2018, there were 100 home-grown biotech companies in Singapore, a 26.6% increase compared to 79 in 2017,” added Wong Xian Yang, head of Research, Singapore, Cushman & Wakefield. 

On the other hand, however, the rise in BMS demand and a limited supply of quality lab space created a mismatch in demand and supply. Only two major BMS developments are expected to enter the market in the near future, with these being Solaris @ Tai Seng and Elementum. The two are expected to be completed by the second half (H2) of 2022 and H2 2023, respectively.

“In 2021, BMS rents in Biopolis and Science Park increased by 5.7% and 3.5% year-on-year (YoY), respectively, to reach about S$6.13 and S$4.39 psf pm. This extended the rental growth of 5.5% and 3.5% YoY in the previous year for BMS spaces at Biopolis and Science Park, respectively. Going forward, rents of business park space for the BMS industry are expected to continue to trend upward by around 3.0% per annum, supported by healthy demand.” said Brenda Ong, Executive Director, Logistics & Industrial at Cushman & Wakefield.

For more on this report, click here.