Dr. Ting Choon Meng, CEO of HealthSTATS

Mr Tony Tan, Chairman of Well-life Pte Ltd

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

1.      I am pleased to join you today for the opening of the first Well-Life BPro Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring Centre, a collaboration between HealthSTATS International and Well-Life Medical Centre.

2.      The medical technology industry in Singapore has experienced robust growth over the last decade.  Manufacturing output has almost quadrupled over the last 10 years to reach S$1.9 billion in 2004.  In terms of employment, the medical technology industry

         accounts for some 60% of the 9,000 jobs in the biomedical sciences manufacturing sector.  

3.      While we continue to attract industry leaders and MNCs such as Baxter, Becton Dickinson, Ciba Vision, Siemens, JMS and others, Singapore is also seeing the emergence of a growing pool of local medical device start-ups.  This is a very positive development and signals the coming of age of the medical technology industry in Singapore. 

4.      Founded in 2000 by Dr. Ting Choon Meng and his colleagues, HealthSTATS is one of these promising local medical technology companies.  Dr. Ting was driven by his personal desire to invent a new device to address the inadequacies of existing products for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM).  For the last three decades, doctors and patients have had to deal with cuff-based monitors worn at all times that were disruptive to a patient’s daily activities.  

5.      Today, we witness the fruits of the many years of labour by Dr. Ting and his team.  The innovative product is ‘Created in Singapore’ - designed, prototyped and commercialized for the world market.  With HealthSTATS’ device, BPro, ABPM has been  completely transformed into a procedure as simple as wearing a watch.  The Well-Life BPro ABPM Centre is the first in the world to offer ABPM services based on this technology.  I understand that HealthSTATS has aggressive plans to roll out at least 10 Centres in Asia by the end of 2005, and up to 40 more in 2006.

6.      For Singapore to maintain its lead as a regional medical hub, our doctors must continuously pioneer and use innovative devices, technologies and procedures.  This is the type of environment and culture that medical innovation thrives on.  Cutting-edge medical devices like drug-eluting stents, orthopedic implants and HealthSTATS’ monitoring device, are born out of such collaborations between clinicians and engineers.  

7.      In the case of HealthSTATS, I am pleased to note that the company worked with the National Heart Centre (NHC) to conduct its patient validation testing.  NHC was also involved in developing the protocols that allowed the device to be clinically validated by the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI).  

8.      The Singapore government is committed to supporting medical innovation.  The Economic Development Board has a range of programmes such as the Proof of Concept grant scheme and SEEDS co-investment to help nurture more medical technology start-ups.  

9.      VC firms also have a part to play in nurturing and growing young start-up companies. HealthSTATS for instance, was able to attract Whiterock Investments, to invest in the company.  The successful listing of LMA, a medical device company, on the SGX is a positive development that should encourage more

private sector VC firms to look at investment opportunities in the biomedical sector.  For Singapore to become the Biopolis of Asia, we need our financial community to identify and back passionate entrepreneurs like Dr. Ting, so that good ideas can take flight.

10.    In closing, I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to the management and staff of HealthSTATS and Well-Life.  I wish you every success for the future.  Thank you.