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SINGAPORE \u2013\u00a0ChemLex, a Chinese chemical research start-up, has launched its global headquarters and its unique AI-powered,\u00a0fully automated\u00a0laboratory for drug discovery and development in Singapore\u2019s innovation hub one-north. <\/p>\n
Founded in 2022 in Shanghai, ChemLex\u00a0uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to radically accelerate discovery of synthetic molecules for the pharmaceutical industry, significantly reducing time-to-market for drugs and medicines.<\/p>\n
At the core of\u00a0ChemLex\u2019s\u00a0lab is a 24\/7 autonomous chemistry system that accelerates chemical discovery, making it far more cost-efficient and significantly more sustainable than traditional lab methods, said the company.<\/p>\n
It merges AI, robotics and chemical engineering to create a self-driving lab that autonomously plans, performs and analyses scientific experiments, minimising manual labour and the odds of human error.<\/p>\n
Driving this is an innovative AI-powered, fully automated synthesis line, which runs experiments autonomously, captures data in real time and transforms chemical discovery from a stop-start process into a smooth workflow.<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Sean Lin, founder and chief executive of\u00a0ChemLex,\u00a0said using an automated and intelligence platform significantly shortens the delivery cycle of the chemical synthesis process in the drug development cycle. It also reduces the costs associated with chemical synthesis, breaking free from the current high dependence on manual operations in medicinal chemistry synthesis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are building an R&D (research and development) engine that compresses months of synthesis and\u00a0optimisation\u00a0into weeks or even days, transforming both the speed and certainty of discovery,\u201d he said at a launch ceremony on Dec 5 at its chemical synthesis facility and global headquarters in Ayer Rajah Crescent.<\/p>\n
\u201cSingapore strengthens this effort and provides us with an ecosystem to scale rapidly and support partners globally who need this capability now,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Jermaine Loy, the newly appointed managing director of Singapore\u2019s lead investment promotion agency Economic Development Board, said\u00a0ChemLex\u2019s\u00a0new facility \u2013 given its ability to advance drug discovery and development \u2013 is very much aligned with the Republic\u2019s advanced manufacturing priorities. <\/p>\n
He said Singapore, over the past two decades, has built up a biomedical science ecosystem, with many of the top global companies hosting here not just manufacturing but their R&D facilities as well. The pharmaceutical and medical technology sectors now employ more than 26,000 people and account for\u00a0nearly 3\u00a0per cent of Singapore\u2019s gross domestic product.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere in Singapore, we remain committed to driving this growth,\u2019\u2019 said\u00a0Mr\u00a0Loy.<\/p>\n
For the next phase of public R&D research, Singapore will be\u00a0prioritising\u00a0development of AI in drug discovery capabilities, and will continue to fund research and innovation to develop this capability, together with global companies here that have been investing in AI, robotics and additive manufacturing for their operations, he noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where\u00a0ChemLex\u2019s\u00a0new facility fits right in,\u201d Mr\u00a0Loy said.<\/p>\n
Since its\u00a0inception\u00a0three years ago,\u00a0ChemLex\u00a0has grown fast, supporting more than 70 customers worldwide, including six of the world\u2019s top 10 pharmaceutical companies. It has also raised about US$80 million (S$103.7 million), including US$45 million in the latest funding round led by Granite Asia, a Singapore-headquartered venture capital firm.<\/p>\n
ChemLex\u00a0said the new funding will support the hiring of more hardware and software engineers, as well as chemists in Singapore, enabling the company to serve a broader pipeline of pharmaceutical and materials science projects.<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Yinghui\u00a0Kuang, partner at Granite Asia, said\u00a0ChemLex\u00a0is the type of deep-tech company that can reshape supply chains, shorten development timelines and unlock new economic value.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI-enabled chemistry is creating one of the most important industrial transitions of the decade, and\u00a0ChemLex\u00a0sits in that sweet spot, turning that shift into a business advantage with a platform that can accelerate molecule design and manufacturing at scale,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Other notable investors in the company include Qiming Venture Partners, LYFE Capital and Sinovation Ventures.<\/p>\n
ChemLex\u00a0has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC), Singapore\u2019s national platform for drug discovery and development. The collaboration\u00a0seeks\u00a0to accelerate next-generation small molecule drug discovery through advanced automation.<\/p>\n
Professor Damian O\u2019Connell, chief executive of the EDDC, said: \u201cBy combining EDDC\u2019s drug development expertise with\u00a0ChemLex\u2019s\u00a0automation and AI capabilities, we aim to shorten timelines, reduce costs, and deliver innovative treatments that improve lives in Singapore and globally.\u201d<\/p>\n
ChemLex has also been onboarded as a member of the Pharmaceutical Innovation Programme Singapore, or the PIPS consortium, where it joins leading biopharma companies in partnering local research institutes and universities to develop and implement\u00a0new technologies\u00a0for small molecule manufacturers.<\/p>\n
Small molecule manufacturing refers to chemical synthesis and large-scale production of low-molecular-weight compounds that act as drugs.<\/p>\n
The launch ceremony was also attended by Minister of State for Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang and Ms Sharon Chan, vice-president of JLABS Asia Pacific, which provides access to\u00a0pharma giant Johnson & Johnson\u2019s expertise to early-stage companies. <\/p>\n
Speaking at a separate media roundtable, Mr Lin said while ChemLex delivers the same category of chemical synthesis services offered by traditional contract research organisations, it does so through AI tools that not only speed up end-to-end synthesis workflows, but also predict and design smarter, greener synthesis routes. ChemLex\u2019s\u00a0AI-for-chemistry platform also suggests\u00a0optimal\u00a0reaction conditions\u00a0automatically and\u00a0reduces variability.<\/p>\n
The firm\u2019s autonomous high-throughput synthesis system managed by robotics\u00a0enables\u00a0more than 800 reactions every day, runs 24\/7 operations with minimal human intervention, and delivers two to four times efficiency gains, replacing 90 per cent of manual work. <\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of slow, manual bench work and fragmented workflows, our platform runs continuous experiments, learns from every data point, and automates the entire synthesis cycle from design to purification.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis removes bottlenecks, increases reproducibility and delivers a level of speed, scale and cost-efficiency that traditional labs cannot match,\u201d Mr Lin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did the\u00a0maths. For now, we can collect enough data in one day which is equivalent to about three years of work by a team of chemists at a conventional lab,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
This means that chemists can now focus on more high-value analytical work, instead of tedious manual workflows that limit throughput, increase costs and produce inconsistent results. <\/p>\n
Explaining why\u00a0ChemLex\u00a0chose Singapore as its global headquarters,\u00a0Mr\u00a0Lin said the Republic is globally well connected, with several Fortune 500 corporations having headquarters here as well. This will allow the firm to\u00a0leverage\u00a0the advantage of Singapore\u2019s resourcefulness and customer connections, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know Singapore is a global biotech hub.\u00a0Hence,\u00a0it is\u00a0also\u00a0easier to find the types of multidisciplinary talent we are looking for,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n