VerImmune Wins 2nd-ever Amgen Golden Ticket in Singapore
Award Includes Singapore Lab Space and Expert Access for Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS @ Washington, DC Resident
By Sam Hopkins
August 8, 2023
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As many organizations in the capital region work to maximize established connections and build new linkages across state, county, district, and city boundaries, ongoing local efforts on the other side of the world are working in parallel to develop life science industries. Sometimes, innovation and venture activity in far-flung localities intersect with the goals and talent we have developed in the mid-Atlantic.
One example of a rising tide of global interest in a company with roots in multiple places is VerImmune, based at Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS @ Washington, DC innovation facility. CEO and Founder Joshua Wang, himself a native of Singapore, was honored along with his company to receive a high-impact biotech prize awarded in Singapore this July, marking a happy homecoming and the start of what will surely be an extra-sweet way to strengthen VerImmune’s global operations and partnerships.
There was no Willy Wonka in attendance, but there was lots of excitement about the Amgen Golden Ticket—first awarded in 2022—that conferred special privileges and access within Singapore‘s biotech sector. The Amgen Golden Ticket Program is a collaboration between multinational biotechnology company Amgen and NSG BioLabs, which provides co-working laboratories in space in Singapore. VerImmune was one of five finalists at a virtual pitch event, and by winning it receives a one year, free residency in a BSL-2 laboratory, as well as access to more facilities and Amgen’s scientific and business network. VerImmune’s Virus-inspired Particle platform (ViP) was assessed by an expert panel, including drug discovery executives from Amgen, and was seen to be a truly pioneering first-in-class cancer immunotherapy approach. That’s because VerImmune builds on each individual’s immune memory from infections or vaccinations, which can be reoriented to help fight cancer.
Amgen and NSG BioLabs are using the award to boost interest and occupancy in the area’s life science development by awarding a one-year residence at NSG labs in the city-state’s Biopolis life, science, and economic development region. The Golden Ticket gives VerImmune enhanced access to resources at that specific location, as well as serving as a distinct and pronounced vote of confidence by local biotech leaders and Amgen’s global innovation team in the novel work the company does.
Singapore has a population of just about 5.5 million, and in 2023 GDP is estimated to reach $447 billion. Economic development has been a dominant imperative since the New York City-sized country’s independence from Malaysia in 1965. For its part, the Biopolis has continued to evolve through multiple phases of construction since 2003, including government agencies, public and private research institutes, and lab facilities for many pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies. It is also home to the Procter & Gamble Singapore Innovation Center, and more recently has been scaled up with a phase 6 of construction to support start-up companies.
VerImmune successfully closed $2.5 million in seed funding in Summer 2022 to advance the development of the company’s lead product and to grow the team. The company focuses on new therapeutic modalities that aim to harness the body’s pre-existing immune system to strengthen the internal fight against cancer. Investors highlighted the company’s differentiated platform and its mechanistic approach to targeting tumors for destruction as reasons for their interest and encouragement about VerImmmune. The company’s proprietary ViP and Anti-Tumor Immune Redirection (AIR) approach even have potential beyond oncology, according to investors and supporters.
With such potential drawing material support and escalating interest in burgeoning ecosystems on opposite sides of the world, VerImmune is taking a balanced approach. The company has touted its presence in the BioHealth Capital Region as crucial for strengthening relationships and connecting to public and private institutions that could envision use cases for AIR therapy alone or in conjunction with other therapies. VerImmune has a strong and highly experienced management and advisory team firmly entrenched in the US, so it will be interesting to see how the company takes advantage of the Golden Ticket and accompanying resources in Singapore. CEO Joshua Wang has said that VerImmune would strengthen its local presence in Singapore as a result of the award and that participation in the program introduces transformative possibilities for the company.
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Sam Hopkins has spent the past decade in the Baltimore area life-science and healthcare ecosystem, including roles at Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland, the U.S. Army, and early-stage companies. He spent the previous decade as a journalist, which saw him cover everything from clean energy conferences in Morocco, to Soviet-era Estonian rock’n’roll, to trailblazing CEOs in Timonium. Sam is an avid athlete and coach, and he lives with his wife and two sons in Baltimore’s Oakenshawe neighborhood. You can often find him around town spinning records as DJ Balagan, or performing in musical groups Sink and South of Boundary.
