Malaysian authorities are wooing French biotechnology firm URRMA (Unité de Recherches sur les Rétrovirus et Maladies Associées), which is developing a vaccine for the AIDS virus, to set up operations in the country.

If all goes well, URRMA will be the first international biotechnology firm ever to set up full-fledged operations in Malaysia, spanning manufacturing, distribution, marketing to research and development (R&D) activities. It will also benefit the nation immensely in terms of global recognition, transfer of knowledge, intellectual property rights and revenue. It may open the floodgates in future investments by other global pharmaceutical and drug firms such as Pfizer, Roche, Novartis, Glaxo SmithKline and Lonza. Malaysia will also be able to rival Singapore which lately has become an expensive country for biotechnology firms to operate.

Marseille-based URRMA specialises in AIDS and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment with the aim to develop a vaccine to fight the disease which so far has no known cure. URRMA president and chief scientific director Professor Jean- Claude Chermann said the company has plans to set up operations which include a factory to produce antibodies and a R&D centre.

Chermann is one of three scientists who first discovered the AIDS virus in 1983 and his expertise and contribution in HIV and AIDS research over the past 23 years is recognised the world over. "We are here making contact with the authorities and plan to set up a factory with a bioreactor capacity of 20,000 litres able to produce 1,920kg of antibodies which can treat 1.6 million HIV patients a year," Chermann told Business Times.

URRMA chief finance officer Dr Andre Lamotte said the factory will be located in Johor as part of the Bandar Nusajaya development, Johor's new administrative capital. "We will set up a local company called URRMA Asia, of which we will have a minority stake and the rest will be jointly owned by the Malaysian Government, foundations and local and foreign investors," said Lamotte. He said apart from Malaysia, URRMA is also eyeing other countries to set up its facilities which include Singapore, Russia and Switzerland. It will also hold talks with the Bill and Melinda Gates and William J. Clinton foundations.

Chermann said the company also held high-powered talks with the Government which includes Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. He has also held talks with Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis and Malaysian Biotechnology Corp Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Iskandar Mizal Mahmood. Chermann is a guest speaker at the Biotechnology Conference in Kuala Lumpur which starts on Wednesday where he will also present a working paper. He declined to reveal the amount of money involved. But on average an international biotechnology firm which plans to set up operations in the region will invest some US$200 million (US$1 = RM3.60).

In its first year of operations, URRMA, which was established by Chermann four years ago, has forecast to make a global revenue of US$7 billion to partly treat some 40 million HIV-positive patients worldwide and growing at a rate of 10 per cent a year. The world's HIV antibody-related market is worth between US$15 billion and US$20 billion a year. The African continent alone has up to 20 million AIDS patients.

A government official said the company in principle has agreed to set up operations in Malaysia and is currently discussing terms of the deal with the Government. "The plan may be finalised as early as the first quarter of 2007 and by then we will know more details on business terms, location and capacity of manufacturing facility, R&D centre, funding aspects and joint venture partners," said the source. URRMA will conduct clinical trials to demonstrate the efficacy of its therapeutic antibodies in the treatment of AIDS.

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