MDeC, Biotechcorp Urged To Drive Local Bioinformatics Start-up Companies in Kuala Lumpur
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Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili, said this could be done by forming joint ventures between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as well as Life Science-based companies.
"Bioinformatics is a huge global market, and has been forecast to reach US$5 billion by 2015. However, considering the increasing interest it has been receiving, we anticipate the sector to be bigger than that," he added.
He was speaking to reporters at a press conference after officiating the opening of the International Conference on BioInformatics here today.
Ongkili said there are only 200 or so, bioinformatics companies worldwide, and Malaysia has spun out at least five in the last few years, with one already listed on Bursa Malaysia.
He also said that MOSTI encourages its agencies like MDEC, BiotechCorp and the Malaysian Institute Of Microelectronic Systems (MIMOS), to work with science universities in the country.
The three-day International Conference on BioInformatics, is organised by the Malaysia Genome Institute.
Ongkili said the key focus of the conference was networking with the field's specialists, trained personnel and the right organisations, as well as the sharing of resources and skills.
