In the late 1990s the Singapore government embarked on a set of far-reaching strategies intended to develop the city-state into one of the major life science R&D and industrial clusters in Asia. Besides efforts to attract leading overseas life science companies to establish operations in Singapore, the government has developed new life science public research institutions to attract overseas research talents. Outside the government, the local university sector is also emerging as an important player. Adapting the "Triple Helix" framework to the life sciences in a newly industrialized economy, this paper reviews the policies and programmes implemented by the Singapore government and the National University of Singapore and discusses the implications for universities in other late-comer countries seeking to catch up in the global biotech race. (Contains 2 tables.)