Dr. Miles Gilman, Managing Director, A2 Bioscience Pte Ltd
06 January 2012
By Ai San Yip and Erwin Chan
Dr. Miles Gilman, Managing Director, A2 Bioscience and Mentor-in-Residence, Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE), Singapore Management University.
A2 Bioscience develops, designs, licenses, and markets therapies in the areas of neuroscience, anti-infectives and cosmeceutical over-the-counter products. The company is interested in merging new proprietary drug delivery systems with natural compounds with improved efficacy and safety profiles.
A2 Bioscience was established in 2008 as a Singapore start-up.
1. Share with us your story and the motivation behind A2 Bioscience.
When I began my career in the medical field, I have always been interested in how technologies can be used in healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. Although I obtained my doctorate degree in clinical pharmacy and cardiovascular drug research, I moved on to focus on clinical drug research and eventually transitioned into healthcare business including pharmaceutical care, drug research, fund management, healthcare services and biotechnology. My career had evolved from developing concepts to viable businesses.
A2 Bioscience was formed in 2008 as the nineteenth company that I have started. Building and selling companies over the past 25 years has been both rewarding and challenging. The smallest company grew and attracted external equity investment with a size of 280 employees in four years whilst the largest grew to 4,500 employees in four years.
When this particular business (A2 Bioscience) opportunity came up, we did a tremendous amount of research and due diligence in six (emerging) Asia countries. Our guiding questions were; “Where is the best place to commercialise natural medicines? Where is the best place to launch OTC products, create positive growth for our business and best chance of being successful?” That was in the mid-2008. We travelled to these six countries and utilised a “traffic light system” to evaluate the feasibility. In this particular case, Singapore got all ‘green lights’ which was rather rare.
We found that Singapore had a robust healthcare system as well as a growing economy. Singapore was also an easier market to study due to its density and the relatively smaller population. It would therefore be easier to generate consumer data and marketing research studies to find problems and identity improvements before we launch our products in other regions. Most of our products are manufactured in the United States, shipped to a local warehouse, received and quality-verified in Singapore before exporting out to other areas. In the future, we hope we can set up a manufacturing base here.
2. Tell us more about A2 Bioscience flagship product, GABAnite. What are other exciting products?
GABAnite has a key active ingredient called Gamma Amino Butyric Acid (GABA) in a nano-encapsulated form that enhances relaxation. GABA and melatonin are naturally produced in the body and are responsible for a good night’s sleep. The idea is that if you are sleep derived or stressed, your body should be using more naturally occurring GABA in the brain. GABAnite provides the body with bioavailable GABA, so if the brain needs GABA, the brain should take it up in equilibration.
GABAnite is marketed as an “all natural drink to calm and relax” at a retail price of SGD 3.50 per bottle. The product is available at most pharmacies including Watsons, Guardian, Unity and Nishino stores island-wide.
We have been designing products for three and half years. A2 Bioscience has 23 products in our pipeline now. We have launched three products in Singapore to date, ie; GABAnite, Lumisys and Eyelash Growth Factor.
The fourth is MEDIslim (a soon-to-launch supplement product in 2012). It is a bio-absorbable thin film strip impregnated with 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP). 5-HTP is also known as oxitriptan, a naturally occurring amino acid and chemical precursor, that is involved in the biosynthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin.
In terms of the technology deployed, we use a proprietary dissolvable oral thin film strip (TFS) for the drug delivery system so that we can load soluble small molecules and compounds. Only certain small molecule compounds are capable of absorption into the bloodstream and suitable for use with this drug delivery system.
MEDIslim is formulated to dissolve quickly and normally in less than one minute when one places it in the mouth or under the tongue. Using the combination of 5HTP’s molecular structure and the technology of TFS, we can get the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) into the bloodstream due to the unique membrane structure of the oral mucosa. Our technology provides absorption typically in one’s bloodstream in about 15 to 30 minutes.
MEDIslim is designed to be a convenient and stable product to enhance consumer compliance. Therefore, MEDIslim is packaged in single use foil sealed sachets for each strip so the consumer can easily carry the product with them, day and night. Compliance and consistency in eating habits are some of the most important factors with programs like MEDIslim in order to provide long-term weight reduction.
Editor’s Note: TFS technology, one can even tailor compounds to meet specific API-loading needs and dissolution rates.
3. The OTC / TFS product-market are not just consumer marketing and advertising and pricing competition; how much of the scientific evidence can one validate in valuing the product-market feasibilities?
We have devised a set of concepts (resonated as “four filters”) that remain strongly associated with the Company’s objectives.
The first filter is that the active ingredients should be safe, non-toxic and all natural (high safety index).
Secondly, these active ingredients should be proven as ‘therapeutically effective’ with previously known data and research.
Thirdly, these active ingredients should be able to be re-designed and formulated with a unique proprietary method that could further increase the desired therapeutic effects of actives. For example, 5-HTP has a published clinical data as an intranasal spray. We then re-designed 5-HTP using TFS technology which then makes it more convenient to administer as well as create therapeutic its bio-availability in the bloodstream.
The fourth filter is that the consumers must be able to tell that the product works. For example, GABAnite makes you feel relaxed and sleep well at night. As for MEDIslim, the consumer should be able to notice a difference in their appetite and weight reduction when combined with a sensible diet and consistent use.
We were astonished when Dr. Miles Gilman showed us the next-in-line product MEDIslim.
4. You have been involved in the start-up scene for a while now, are there any gaps in the Singapore ecosystem?
I have been acquiring more knowledge about the Singapore biomedical and start-up systems over the last few years. Although there are many positive aspects to the start-up scene in Singapore, there are also many areas of the industry which need development to accelerate the commercialization process. Funding sources, beyond the government grants, need to become more abundant. Mentoring and entrepreneur interfacing with business concepts could also be more plentiful.
Singapore has many great technologies and ideas. It is just a matter of putting all the necessary ingredients together to help increase the commercialization process. Once enough success stories and exit strategies are documented, I believe other private equity participants will locate to Singapore and hence establish a permanent eco-system. Singapore also has great resources such as the country’s infrastructure, human talent pool and local expertise. The transparency of the Singapore government and regulatory guidance from Health Science Authority are all big positives for medical and pharmaceutical start-ups.
5. We saw you on Straits Times interview several months ago. You said that A2 Bioscience has a group of investors who poured SGD 3.5 Million in the company. How did you manage to raise the primary investment sum?
Most of them are strategic angels; pharmaceutical CEOs, biotechnology professionals and investment bankers in biotechnology who invested in our company. We have sought to raise strategic angel money from people who are capable of providing business counsel and advice in additional to capital.
A2 Bioscience has raised about SGD 2.5 million (Series A) from strategic angels. The other SGD 1.0 million came from SPRING SEEDS funding.
In other recent start-ups, we raised between USD 15 million to USD 25 million in the first round of investment which came from financial institutions and private equity partners. Over the years, I have met quite a few of people in the financial and healthcare markets (private and institutional healthcare funds) who were excellent value added partners. We cannot guarantee what is going to happen to A2 Bioscience in terms of payback, return-of-investment or liquidity but, historically, the investments that came together in these start-ups have done well over time.
Editor’s note: The Straits Times article, dated as 12 October 2011, revealed that Mr. Richard Eu, Chief Executive of Eu Yan Sang International was one of the local investors.
6. If there is one word of advice you can give to aspiring technopreneurs who are looking to start their business in the biomedical industry, what would that be?
There is great opportunity because the pharmaceutical industry is in dire need of ideas. However, the ideas have to turn into reality before someone or, large multinational corporations (MNCs) will be interested in them. That tricky path from an idea to cashing out after years of investment or, licensing to MNCs is the difficult part.
So, I would have to say “build an experienced and strategic business team” around your idea to seek global partners and attracting these partners to Singapore. The team has to know how to deploy smart money to drive not only innovation but gain calculated traction and quantifiable milestone achievements. Smart money should be from people who have done start-ups; people who know how to commercialise products, people who have access to insights and analytics and of course; access to capital. Technoprenuers can achieve great outcomes by filing the right variables, lots of hard work and a bit of luck. As Thomas Edison once quoted: “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration”. Accordingly, a ‘genius’ is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework”.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ai San Yip at
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and Erwin Chan at
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