July 2, 2007
Biotechnology companies at the Southern Taiwan Science Park's (STSP) are starting to see their investments blossom this year, with a number of firms showing strong profits as the park's biotech cluster takes shape.
At the STSP, there were 32 companies as of the end of April, and 917 personnel at biotech companies as of the end of 2006, according to Wu Meng-fen, Deputy Director of the STSP Management Bureau. And although they only comprise 1.9% of employees at the park, biotech workers accounted for nearly
NTD 2 billion in STSP revenue in 2006, or 29.5% growth over the previous year, said Wu.
STSP's biotechnology industry covers a diverse and comprehensive range of products and services, including biotech computer chips, raw materials for biomedicine, biotech-engineered medicines, health food products, Chinese herbal medicines, test reagents, agricultural biotechnology, and biotech services.
Wu noted that after years of cultivation, a number of STSP companies are boasting impressive achievements. Taiwan's ScinoPharm is now one of the top factories for active pharmceutical ingredients, Geneferm has successfully developed an acidophilus formula, and Kaiser Pharmaceutical is now one of the largest production factories for Chinese medicine. Other companies such as Tuckmore Biotechnology, Gentmont Biotech and AsiaGen have also established their niche in the market. And as many companies continue to establish and expand their flagship biotech factories at STSP, rapid growth can be expected for the future, said Wu.
Plans are also underway for creating a 'Genetic Biotechnology Industry Belt' at the Tainan branch of the park, which covers a total area 53 hectares and spans both sides of a Taiwan High Speed Rail station. In addition, an 'Integrated Biotechnology Area" is being planned, which will combine agricultural and biomedicine applications.
The 45 hectares around the STSP site at the Taiwan High Speed Rail have been designed to serve as a "Biotech Corridor", serving mass production facilities; the biotech factories already located at the park have indeed formed a biotech cluster. The remaining 8 hectares will serve as a "Biotech Core Area", and feature a complete, cGMP compliant biotechnology standard factory.
The addition of the National Laboratory Animal Center and a greenhouse run by the Academia Sinica Biotechnology Experimental Center in Southern Taiwan (AS-BEST) also mark significant developments in promoting biotechnology at the STSP, said Wu.
Officials hope that these plans will make STSP a nationwide benchmark for the biotechnology industry, and attract foreign investment, technology, and highly talented professionals, to form a complete, vertically-integrated biotechnology cluster.
(Economic Daily News)
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