Siam Bioscience Company, Ltd. ( th, สยามไบโอไซเอนซ์) is a Thai drug manufacturer, owned by
King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
In 2009, the project started with a partnership between
CPB Equity, subsidiary of
Crown Property Bureau
The Crown Property Bureau (CPB) ( th, สำนักงานทรัพย์สินพระมหากษัตริย์; ) is legally the administrative agency responsible for managing the property of the King of Thailand. It has no ...
in the reign of King
Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej ( th, ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; ; ; (Sanskrit: ''bhūmi·bala atulya·teja'' - "might of the land, unparalleled brilliance"); 5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great ...
, and a medical human resource and pharmaceutical technology supporter's
Mahidol University. Investing around 2,000 million baht, the project proposes were bio-pharmaceutical product research and producing Thai drugs to reduce the dependence on imported drugs.
The first chair of the board and the key man driving the project was
Sanoh Unakul, one of
Siam Cement Group's directors.
Apiporn Pasawat, former managing director of SCG Chemical, and
Songpon Deechongkit, have been CEO and managing director from the beginning.
In 2012,
Thailand Board of Investment
The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) or ''The Office of the Board of Investment'' is an agency of the Government of Thailand. Its mission is to promote foreign investment in Thailand by providing information, services, and incentives to interes ...
subsidized Siam Bioscience for 427.50 million baht.
Business partnership
Cuba's Cimab
In 2017, the company was in 70/30 joint venture with Cuba's Abinis (Cimab) from
Center of Molecular Immunology to produce and export licensed drugs. Abinis received special tax privileges such as a ten-year tax reduction with help from
Thailand Board of Investment
The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) or ''The Office of the Board of Investment'' is an agency of the Government of Thailand. Its mission is to promote foreign investment in Thailand by providing information, services, and incentives to interes ...
. The plant construction started in 2011 and completed in 2013, it is able to produce biopharmaceutical for anaemia treating and reducing side effects of chemo.
Controversy
Lèse-majesté suit
In January 2021,
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit ( th, ธนาธร จึงรุ่งเรืองกิจ, , ; ; born 25 November 1978) is a Thai politician who served as the leader of the Future Forward Party until the party dissolved in 2020. From 200 ...
was charged with
lèse-majesté
Lèse-majesté () or lese-majesty () is an offence against the dignity of a ruling head of state (traditionally a monarch but now more often a president) or the state itself. The English name for this crime is a borrowing from the French, w ...
, a strict defamation law, after criticizing
Prayut Chan-o-cha
Prayut Chan-o-cha (sometimes spelled Prayuth Chan-ocha; th, ประยุทธ์ จันทร์โอชา, ; born 21 March 1954) is a Thai politician and retired army officer who has served as the Prime Minister of Thailand since he ...
government mismanagement of
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
vaccination
Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...
by relying too much on
AstraZeneca vaccine
AstraZeneca plc () is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major d ...
which Siam Bioscience, owned by the King, supplies most amount even with a lack of vaccine experience.
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...
charged him for publishing Jan 18 Facebook Live stream. Later,
Puttipong Punnakanta filed the charge through
Technology Crime Suppression Division
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
and the court ordered taking the video down.
Later in August 2021,
Thanathorn faced two more lèse-majesté charges for the same act.
Subsidy
Aside from BOI subsidy earlier in 2012, in October 2020,
Prayut Chan-o-cha
Prayut Chan-o-cha (sometimes spelled Prayuth Chan-ocha; th, ประยุทธ์ จันทร์โอชา, ; born 21 March 1954) is a Thai politician and retired army officer who has served as the Prime Minister of Thailand since he ...
led's government allocated 600 million baht budget to Siam Bioscience through the
National Vaccine Institute to develop capacity to produce AstraZeneca vaccine.
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit ( th, ธนาธร จึงรุ่งเรืองกิจ, , ; ; born 25 November 1978) is a Thai politician who served as the leader of the Future Forward Party until the party dissolved in 2020. From 200 ...
criticized a transparency in the subsidy for
for-profit company A for-profit corporation is an organization which aims to earn profit through its operations and is concerned with its own interests, unlike those of the public ( non-profit corporation).
Structure
A for-profit corporation is usually an organizatio ...
.
References
{{Reflist
Pharmaceutical companies of Thailand
Pharmaceutical companies established in 2009
2009 establishments in Thailand
Biotechnology companies established in 2009
Vajiralongkorn