Agilent to build lab with Malaysian government
Will develop global Halal testing standards in pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals
Agilent Technologies is to establish a research laboratory in Malaysia that will develop global Halal testing standards in pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals.
The US provider of bioanalytical instruments has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Malaysia through the Malaysian Institute of Pharmaceuticals and Nutraceuticals (IPHARM), an agency under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), to promote and develop cooperation in biotechnology.
The IPHARM-Agilent Global Reference Research Lab will provide access to analytical tools to build Malaysian expertise in biotechnology and develop the global Halal testing standards.
IPHARM brings expertise in bioactive compounds research and analysis to the partnership.
‘Agilent shares a common desire with the Government of Malaysia to realise the national agenda for biotechnology,’ said Gooi Soon Chai, president of Agilent Technologies Malaysia and Singapore.
‘Our partnership presents an enormous potential to accelerate the development of this field as the next engine of growth for the country.’
Agilent Technologies, formerly part of Hewlett-Packard, began operations in Penang, Malaysia in 1972. The firm now occupies a 42-acre manufacturing site in Bayan Lepas, with a workforce of about 3,000 people.