September 28, 2007
In order to respond to Asia-Pacific market demand and expand its global services, the US pharmaceutical company MediVas has chosen Taiwan as the location for its newly established MediVas Asia Corporation, bringing its drug and biologics delivery applications to Taiwan. Taiwan has also been chosen to serve as the company’s development base in the Asia region.
Headquartered in San Diego, California, MediVas has devoted its efforts into developing its drug and biologics delivery system since its founding in 1988. The uniqueness and advantages of this technology has helped MediVas enter licensing deals and joint development projects with pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, Merck, and Wyeth.
MediVas has formed this new venture in view of Asia’s rapid economic development and strong demand for western medical technologies and products in the region. With assistance from the Development Center for Biotechnology and the Ministry of Economic Affairs Department of Investment Services (
DOIS), MediVas chose Taiwan as the location for MediVas Asia, and to serve as its development base for the Asia Pacific region. The fact that MediVas chose Taiwan over a number of other countries in the region underlines the company’s regard for Taiwan’s investment environment.
MediVas will employ a technology transfer platform to introduce advanced medical care products to Taiwan while developing “super generics”, so that the public in the Asia region will enjoy access to the latest medical care products and services along with the rest of the world. MediVas CEO Kenneth Carpenter has expressed his affirmation and approval regarding the sincerity of Taiwan’s efforts to attract investment over the past year.
Taiwan started to develop its biotechnology industry in the 1980s, and nurtured the industry’s potential through the establishment of biotechnology research and development organizations. There are 95 biotechnology incubation centers in Taiwan, with 48 of the centers incubating biotech companies. In 2002, there were a total number of 117 biotechnology companies, a figure which increased to 268 in 2006.
The Executive Yuan to date has approved the formation of 8 biotechnology parks, and according to statistics by the
MOEA Industrial Development Bureau (IDB), the government spent nearly
NTD 21.5 billion on the biotechnology industry in 2006, with
R&D expenditures accounting for approximately 60% of this figure. Private biotech investment in 2006 amounted to nearly
NTD 21 billion, mainly in the areas of health food products, drug manufacture, biotechnology/medical care, and medical instruments. The biotech industry has seen an average growth of 12% in revenues over the past five years, as biotech industry clusters started to yield benefits.
The “Statute for Biotechnology and New Medicine Industry Development” was passed by the Legislative Yuan in June 2007, and was formally promulgated in early July by the Presidential Office. We believe the passage of this law marks a major new development for Taiwan’s biotechnology industry. The
MOEA will continue to promote Taiwan as a destination for foreign pharmaceutical manufacturers, while continuing to help domestic manufacturers upgrade their technology, and develop the international pharmaceuticals market through sales networks.
(Department of Investment Services)
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