Singaporean fund eyes WA medical inventions

A Singaporean investment vehicle is scouring Western Australia’s nascent biotechnology industry for new projects worth backing to bring onto the world stage.

The Good Science Fund was launched in Singapore and bolstered by investment from entrepreneur John Chew about a year ago.

Jetting in from Singapore for the Life Sciences WA bio-innovation symposium on Thursday, investment committee chairman Mr Chew used the forum to lay out criteria the fund was looking for.

Mr Chew said the fund was looking for simple, affordable inventions and innovations that could be used globally, and companies with commercially minded people on board.

“I love biotech, because I see it as a way that we can cure people right from diseases and as well as improve the lives of the people,” he said.

“Certain projects … will be too expensive and beyond the reach of the normal people. I will not invest in that because it will not be able to benefit the less fortunate.

“That gives you an idea what are the kind of projects and what are the kind of people I am uncomfortable with.”

Projects Good Science Fund has already invested in include a robotics firm developing AI-enhanced replacement limbs, which are sold for less than $US10,000, about one-10th the price of similar products on the market to date.

Another project, Nutraceuticals, is developing plant-based cancer drugs and preventative vaccines it's hoped will negate the need for chemotherapy.

“We have tested these on 2,000 patients successfully, stage three and four cancers in Singapore,” Mr Chew said.

The Good Science Fund will engage Australian firms through a venture partnership co-founded by Perth Angels industry development chairman Greg Riebe.

“The whole objective was to actually get more venture capital funds into the medical technology sector here in WA,” Mr Riebe said.

“We could have gone away and try to raise fund; that is complicated.

“We felt that the best way was to actually attract to fund the company.”

Mr Chew’s other business interests include non-fungible tokens, horse racing, real estate and education.

He was attracted to the fund after a friend died of cancer and his (Mr Chew's) five-year-old daughter was diagnosed with autism.