JOHOR BAHRU, 28 March 2018 – Malaysia, rich with its abundance of bioresources has provided numerous R&D and commercialisation opportunities to the industry and academia. This is further reaffirmed by the Malaysian government with the launching of the National Biotechnology Policy (BNP) in 2005 anchored by Bioeconomy Corporation, MOSTI.
Additionally, the synergizing of industry-academia has been gaining traction in order to drive high-value innovation, commercialisation, talent and skills development imperative for nation-building. As such, the Institute of Bioproduct Development (IBD) have participated actively in supporting BNP’s national agenda by collaborating and providing added value services for local biotech based companies.
To communicate our latest service offerings, IBD have organised the first series of its Industrial Engagement Day for 2018 featuring mini-exhibitions and five presentations by representatives from our R&D Unit and Technology Platforms comprising of Herbal Extraction Centre (HEC), Biovalidation and Analytical Unit, Cosmeceutical and Fragrance Unit, Food and Nutraceutical Unit, and Microbial Bioprocessing Unit.
The event also featured a concluding Sharing Session by Dato Tony Peng, CEO of All Cosmos Biotech Corporation entitled “Growing with Biotech” as he conveyed the positive impact of long-term R&D collaboration with IBD’s Microbial Bioprocessing Technology Platform since 2009.
According to Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Hesham El Enshasy, Acting Director of IBD, they were delighted to host this first industrial engagement day aiming at strengthening collaborations with our current and future industrial partners.
“As a HICOE (Service Thrust) mandated by Ministry of Higher education (MOHE) to carry out herbal, microbial bioprocessing, and bioproduct development activities, IBD has now positioned itself to be a techno-industrial research partner with many local and international companies ranging from SME’s to international public listed corporation.
“We capitalize on our experts, world-class facility, and world-wide academic and industrial linkages to play a strong role in innovation and human capital development. We do not consider today as just a one-day event but as part of our long-term relationship with the industrial society,” he cited.
The event was attended by a total of 137 participants with 52 coming from biotech based industry, 3 of which is a Singaporean company and 85 from the academic sector. IBD is also honoured to have the presence and support of Mr Shazaril Adri Mohd Shariff (Vice President of Corporate Strategy) from Bioeconomy Corporation and Mr Aizi Reza Razak (Vice President Strategy and Corporate Planning) from Bioexcell Sdn Bhd.
Another series of events is set to be held in other regions across Malaysia, with the next program tentatively planned in May 2018 at UTM Kuala Lumpur Campus. In essence, IBD services comprise of contract research and consultancy, analytical services, postgraduate programs and professional training programs in the area of bioprocessing and bioproduct development.
For any inquiries and interest in our offerings, kindly e-mail to ibd@utm.my.