RESEARCH PROGRAMMES ON THE NIPAH VIRUS

NOTICE PAPER NO. 484

NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER

FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON 12 FEBRUARY 2026

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song

MP for Aljunied GRC

Question No. 1386

To ask the Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health (a) what is the progress of local research into Nipah virus diagnostic kits and vaccines; (b) whether Singapore currently possesses or has plans to develop Biosafety Level 4 laboratory capacity for such vaccine testing; and (c) what grants or subsidies support local firms to ensure such research remains viable without a commercial market.

Answer

1.       The main local research programme on Nipah virus and other pathogens with pandemic potential is the Programme for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and REsponse (PREPARE). PREPARE is funded under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) programme, which can involve collaborations between public sector institutions and private sector firms. 

2.       To date, under PREPARE, Duke-NUS, NUS and A*STAR are conducting six research projects on Nipah virus covering diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines.  All of these are in progress and do not involve the use of live Nipah virus which requires a biosafety level (BSL) 4 laboratory.

3        Singapore currently does not have a BSL 4 laboratory for the purposes of research. MINDEF is upgrading the capabilities of DSO National Laboratories to

BSL 4.