Covid-19 test kit maker Becton to boost operations in Singapore

(Bloomberg)—Becton Dickinson & Co. will spend close to $130 million on new investments in Singapore including opening a facility to produce blood culture media product, the country’s Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing said.

The product, known as BD Bactec, will be used in Singapore hospitals and exported around the world, Chan said at a press conference during a visit to Becton’s local office on Wednesday. The company is also aiming to expand its manufacturing to other product lines, and create more than 300 new jobs in the island state during the next few years, he said.

Becton is also working on manufacturing a rapid Covid-19 test kit that has been coordinated and overseen by its team in Singapore, Chan said. Such kits may play an important role in helping the country to reopen its airports and aviation sector, he said.

Speaking more broadly about the biomedical sector, Chan said investments by companies in the area should help create more than 1,300 jobs in Singapore during the next three to five years. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health said Singapore is aiming to generate about 7,500 new jobs and 1,600 trainee positions in the healthcare sector through the end of 2021.