June 6, 2005
Taiwan's biomedical industry will see its annual production value grow by 10% to
NTD 158.6 billion this year, says the
MOEA Industrial Development Bureau. The IDB has been aggressively promoting biomedical industry investment projects and reports that over
NTD 6 billion has already been invested in this sector in Taiwan in the first four months of the year. The bureau's annual target is
NTD 23.4 billion.
The healthcare sector is an emerging sector in Taiwan and is proving to be a big draw for both domestic and foreign investment. Such major domestic enterprises as Formosa Plastics, Taiwan Sugar Co. and Yung Shin Pharmaceutical Industrial Co. are all planning the establishment of healthcare communities. This is one example of how Taiwan's biomedical industry is diversifying.
In addition to diversification, the biomedical industry is also focusing on innovation. The Executive Yuan Science Advisory Task Force and the National Science Council have made long-distance healthcare, which permits medical professionals to provide medical care via information and telecommunications technology, one of the major focuses for the future development of this industry. Long-distance healthcare falls under the new category of intelligent healthcare, a sector the government is eager to promote.
The medical devices sector in Taiwan is heating up steadily and has consequently attracted the interest of foreign investors. Canada's MDS Capital Corp. has initiated some big foreign investment projects in Taiwan. The venture capital firm helped Inovise Medical of the United States establish Inovise Taiwan. This new company is investing
NTD 100 million in order to manufacture diagnostic instruments for heart ailments. Also with the backing of MDS, another US company, U-Systems, set up U-Systems Taiwan in early March. This subsidiary will initially carry out clinical trials of the U-Systems Breast Ultrasound System which is to be used for the early detection of breast cancer.
Taiwanese manufacturers, including Biotop Technology Co., have also been boosting their production of hugely popular safety syringes, which help prevent needlestick injuries, in order to further expand on the global market.
IDB statistics show that Taiwan's medical instruments manufacturers have seen their combined production value grow by around 18% each year in recent years, while overseas sales in this sector have increased 20% yearly.
(United Daily News)
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