Speech By Mr Chee Hong Tat, Minister Of State, at the Gala Dinner Of The 21st Annual Congress Of Asia Pacific Blood And Marrow Transplantation Group

Professor Shinichiro Okamoto, Chairman of the Asia Pacific Blood and Marrow Transplantation Group or APBMT
Associate Professor William Hwang, President of the 21st APBMT Congress
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

Good evening.

1.          I am happy to join all of you at the gala dinner of the 21st Annual Congress of the Asia Pacific Blood and Marrow Transplant Group.

2.          The APBMT is an international organisation that brings together 21 countries and regions in the Asia Pacific region. The group was initiated by physicians from the region to share knowledge and practices as well as basic and clinical research findings in haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. We have many of the best minds in the field of stem cell transplants gathered here today.

How Stem Cell Transplants Have Become Established Therapy

3.          Replacing the blood forming cells of a patient with healthy cells from a donor allows for the treatment of many blood diseases like leukaemia and bone marrow failure.

4.          This highly specialised field has come a long way since the first bone marrow transplant was performed in 1958 in New York, USA. Today, stem cell transplants from bone marrow, peripheral blood and cord blood cells are established therapy with over 50,000^[1]such transplants being performed around the world every year.

5.          I am glad to hear that significant advances in the field of stem cell therapy have been shared over the past few days at the conference. From new drugs that can be used to tackle graft versus host disease, to advances in supportive care translating to a lower incidence of complications like fungal infections, there are many possibilities for improving the safety and care for our patients. 

Leading Clinical Studies in Stem Cell Transplant in Singapore

6.          In Singapore, we recognise the importance of supporting stem cell transplants and cell therapy clinical studies to improve patient outcomes.  

7.          For example, a team of local researchers have grown cells to make cytokine-induced killer cells[2] and chimeric antigen receptor cells[3] and using them to mount immunological attacks against cancer cells. These multicentre studies take cells from patients and donors, grow them outside the human body to train them to fight cancer cells, and then infuse them to patients where they hunt down and destroy cancer cells. During the conference, we have learnt more about advances in this area from the international community which have the potential to make these therapies even better for patients. 

8.          Like in other areas of research and innovation, we can all benefit from working together and sharing our knowledge with one another across countries and across disciplines.  If we only look within, and are not open to ideas and talent from around the world, it will limit the progress we can make and ultimately affect our patients.    

9.          This is true in medical science, it also applies to how we enhance Singapore’s economic competitiveness and develop our social policies.  With a limited land area, Singapore needs to manage our population growth carefully.  At the same time, we must not over-tighten the inflow of immigrants and foreign workers, and send the wrong signal that we no longer welcome talent. That will hurt us as it will lead to slower economic growth, fewer jobs and a less vibrant society.  Our end objective is to strengthen Singapore to benefit Singaporeans.  The best way to achieve this is not to build walls, shut our doors and close our minds.  It is to remain connected with the world, and to be open to ideas and talent from all sources. 

Establishing Standards in Bio-banking

10.      While cutting edge studies are performed in the field of stem cells, there is also a need to maintain the highest clinical, laboratory and ethical standards.

11.      MOH recently developed the Human Biomedical Research Act or HBRA which helps set the standards for biomedical research and tissue banking in Singapore. This Act incorporates provisions for two separate but related regulatory frameworks, namely the human biomedical research regulatory framework and the human tissue regulatory framework. The primary focus is to protect the safety and well-being of research participants and tissue donors, and to respect their privacy and autonomy. We are giving time for the research and tissue banking community to understand and prepare themselves to comply with the requirements under the Act before the provisions take effect in phases over the next few years.

12.      Other regulations and guidelines in the pipeline include those for cell, tissue and gene therapy products under the Health Products Act and bio-banking under the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act. These are meant to ensure patient safety.  MOH will consult the industry before we put these regulations and guidelines in place.  

Conclusion

13.      Let me conclude by extending a big thank you to our donors, who have given their bone marrow, peripheral blood and cord blood cells for research and transplants.  The progress we have seen in the field and the increasing number of transplants over the years would not have been possible without your support and generous donations.  People say “blood is life”.  So by donating blood and marrow, we are helping others by giving them the gift of life. 

14.      I wish everyone a pleasant evening and a good weekend ahead.

Thank you.

[1]World Health Organization (WHO) Heematopoetic Stem Cell Transplantation 2016 -  http://www.who.int/transplantation/hsctx/en/

[2] Linn YC, Yong HX, Niam M, Lim TJ, Chu S, Choong A, Chuah C, Goh YT, Hwang W, Loh Y, Ng HJ, Suck G, Chan M, Koh M. A phase I/II clinical trial of autologous cytokine-induced killer cells as adjuvant immunotherapy for acute and chronic myeloid leukemia in clinical remission. Cytotherapy. 2012 Aug;14(7):851-9. doi: 10.3109/14653249.2012.694419.

[3] Pilot Study of Redirected Haploidentical Natural Killer Cell Infusions for B-Lineage Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia -  https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01974479?term=NK+linn&rank=1