Taiwan attends BIO International Convention in US

2016/06/14

Taiwan sent a large delegation to BIO International Convention June 6-9 at Moscone Center in San Francisco to showcase the President Tsai Ing-wen administration’s determination to promote Taiwan’s biomedical industry and its links to the world.

Hosted by U.S.-based Biotechnology Innovation Organization, the convention is the largest event of its kind for the global biomedical industry, attracting around 15,000 attendees comprising business representatives, CEOs, key policymakers and scientists from over 60 countries and territories.

Taiwan’s delegation, led by Minister without Portfolio Wu Tsung-tsong, consisted of over 100 members from different government departments and agencies, including the Ministries of Economic Affairs, Health and Welfare, and Science and Technology, as well as the Council of Agriculture, Development Center for Biotechnology, Medical and Pharmaceutical Industry and Development Center and incubation centers from several universities.

At the convention news conference in San Francisco, Wu said as one of the major parts of the five innovative industries set for promotion by the government, the biomedical industry has already received lots of resources and manpower in recent decades. “Now it is at the stage of taking off,” he said, adding that the biomedical industry has to do a little more, especially in the area of developing new medicines.

According to Wu, the future development of Taiwan’s biomedical industry should focus on developing new drugs and medical equipment, as well as integrating information communications technology and innovating health care delivery.

Taiwan has plenty of excellent and affordable biotech talent, as well as the right environmet for clinical trials of new medicines. These are factors that can attract international pharmaceutical companies to set up operations or branch offices in Taiwan.

“If combined with the medical market, or integrated into the medical equipment, ICT will have bright opportunities in the future,” he said. “In addition to hardware development, Taiwan should pursue more soft power options like providing new health care services.”

For example, Wu said, there are 17 high quality medical centers in Taiwan, providing not just regular medical treatment, but also people-oriented services. Combined with the design of user friendly and greater care, along with strength in computers and electronics, Taiwan’s hospitals could be more humanized, and equipped with upgraded technology. “This is a new service Taiwan could offer to the world.”

There are also 15 private businesses setting up 20 exhibition booths at the event to promote Taiwan’s biomedical environment, attract orders from international pharmaceuticals and build strategic partnerships with them. These include Fountain Biopharma Inc., Gold NanoTech Inc., PharmaEssentia Corp., TaiGen Biotechnology Co. Ltd., Taiwan Liposome Co. Ltd., Simpson Biotech Co. Ltd. and Vetco Pharmaceuticals Inc., all producing a range of specialty medicines, small-molecule and protein drugs.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=245469&ctNode=2194&mp=9)