ChemLex, a fast-growing Chinese deep-tech start-up founded in 2022, has launched its global headquarters and a fully automated, AI-powered self-driving chemistry lab in Singapore’s One-North innovation district.

The company specialises in using artificial intelligence, robotics, and machine learning to dramatically speed up the discovery and synthesis of new molecules for pharmaceutical companies. Its autonomous system:

• Runs 24/7 and performs over 800 reactions a day

• Learns continuously from data and automates the full synthesis cycle

• Reduces traditional manual work by up to 90%

• Compresses months of chemistry workflows into days or weeks

ChemLex already supports more than 70 global customers, including six of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies, and has raised US$80 million so far.

Singapore was chosen for its strong biomedical ecosystem, global connectivity, and access to multidisciplinary talent. The company plans to hire more engineers and chemists locally.

ChemLex also signed an MoU with Singapore’s Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC) to accelerate next-generation small molecule drug discovery through automation and AI.

The initiative aligns closely with Singapore’s national R&D priorities, including advanced manufacturing, AI-driven drug discovery, and biomedical sciences.

Commentary — How ChemLex Strengthens Singapore’s Position as a Global Biomedical Hub

ChemLex’s decision to establish its global HQ and fully autonomous AI chemistry lab in Singapore is a strategic milestone for the country’s biomedical ambitions.

Singapore has spent two decades building a strong ecosystem across research, pharmaceuticals, med-tech, regulation, and manufacturing. But the next leap forward depends on deep-tech innovation, especially in AI and automation. ChemLex embodies exactly that.

Here’s why this development is significant:

1. Singapore becomes a leader in AI-driven drug discovery

Traditional drug development is slow, expensive, and heavily dependent on manual laboratory work.
ChemLex’s platform challenges that model by offering:

• continuous automated synthesis

• predictive AI-driven chemical design

• vastly faster experiment cycles

This positions Singapore as one of the few places in the world with a self-driving drug discovery lab, elevating its status among global biotech innovation centres.

2. It boosts Singapore’s biomedical workforce and talent pipeline

ChemLex plans to hire more:

• software and hardware engineers

• computational scientists

• chemists

• robotics specialists

This fuels Singapore’s push to develop multidisciplinary biomedical talent — a core objective of its Research, Innovation & Enterprise (RIE) strategy.

For young scientists and engineers, it creates opportunities in cutting-edge, high-value industries that combine chemistry, robotics, and AI.

3. It strengthens Singapore’s ecosystem through industry partnerships

The collaboration with EDDC and participation in the PIPS consortium integrate ChemLex directly into Singapore’s biomedical research network.
These partnerships allow:

• faster translation of research into real-world drugs

• shared data and capabilities across public and private sectors

• long-term collaboration opportunities with major pharma players

This is exactly how global biotech hubs like Boston and Shanghai grew — through strong networks of public research, start-ups, and pharma giants.

4. It reinforces Singapore’s global competitiveness in biotech investment

With ChemLex backed by major venture capital firms and supporting some of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies, its expansion sends a strong signal:

Singapore is not just a place to manufacture medicines — it is a place to invent them.

This attracts:

• more foreign R&D investment

• more start-ups

• deeper global partnerships

and strengthens Singapore’s reputation as a premier biomedical innovation hub.

Conclusion

ChemLex’s AI-robotics chemistry lab is more than a technological showcase — it represents the future of biomedical R&D. Its arrival in Singapore accelerates innovation, grows high-quality jobs, strengthens partnerships with public institutions, and positions the country at the forefront of next-generation drug discovery.

For Singapore, this is exactly the kind of strategic investment that cements its role as Asia’s leading biomedical science powerhouse.