Invest in TaiwanDepartment of Investment Services, MOEA
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Wyeth Pharmaceuticals of United States was originally named the American Home Products Corporation
. Founded in 1926, it acquired and merged with John Wyeth & Brother, another company in the pharmaceutical industry, in 1931. On March 11th, 2003, the American Home Products Corporation changed its name to Wyeth and began to transform itself into a research-oriented pharmaceutical company in keeping with its global leadership position in such areas as clinical drugs and nutritional supplements. Wyeth has 52,000 employees worldwide, and a marketing network covering 150 countries and regions. Its worldwide business revenue is in excess of US$14 billion, and it is the third largest biotechnology company and third largest vaccine R&D company in the world. Its R&D department alone has some 7,000 employees, and in 2003 Wyeth has an R&D budget of US$2.1 billion, which represents 17% of its operating revenue; percentages higher than this can be found only in the aerospace industry. Wyeth products seek to promote human health, and include both prescription and non-prescription drugs, nutritional supplements, vaccines, biochemical products and health care products.
For over 40 years, Wyeth Taiwan has continued to expand its production facilities, introducing the latest health care and nutritional products, developing local expertise and talent, generating exceptional results, and repeatedly garnering the CEO's Award from Wyeth global headquarters. With its self-developed manufacturing process technology, Wyeth Taiwan has also successfully competed with other Wyeth subsidiaries to become Wyeth Pharmaceuticals' regional operations and management center in the Asia Pacific Region.
Wyeth Taiwan Corporation (formerly Cyanamid Co., Ltd. of Taiwan) is Wyeth Pharmaceuticals' subsidiary in Taiwan. It began as a joint venture between Cyanamid of USA and Taisugar. This joint venture subsequently became a pharmaceutical manufacturing company, the first of its kind in Taiwan. There are now 3 Wyeth subsidiaries on the island: Wyeth-Ayerst (Asia) Ltd., Taiwan Branch; Wyeth Taiwan Corporation; and Fort Dodge Animal Health, Taiwan, Ltd. The total number of employees in these organizations is 560; they had a combined business revenue of NT$ 3.2 billion in 2002. In addition to its Taipei office and its manufacturing plant in Hsinchu, Wyeth Taiwan also has 4 business divisions: clinical drugs, nutritional supplements, consumer health care, and animal products.
In 2001, the Wyeth plant in Hsinchu became one of Wyeth's regional operations and management centers in the Asia Pacific region. It is responsible for manufacturing and distributing Wyeth's clinical drug products to 13 countries in the Asia Pacific region. At present, Wyeth Taiwan is focusing mainly on operations center management and clinical trials.
In the past, Taiwan has achieved outstanding economic performance. With high quality human resources and a stable leadership, Wyeth Taiwan has been able to plan for long-term development in line with the changes in Taiwan's economic environment. Wyeth Taiwan has continued to invest in the island in recent years, and has significantly reduced production costs through self-developed manufacturing process technology while increasing production capacity by 100%. Wyeth Taiwan has achieved a record by winning Wyeth's highest honor -- the CEO's Award
-- for 4 consecutive years, and has assisted Wyeth subsidiaries in neighboring countries with strategic planning and training. It is clear that the management at Wyeth Taiwan, and the results which it has achieved, have won recognition from the parent company.
Biotechnology is the rising star of the 21st century. It is also one of the focus industries on which Taiwan is putting a lot of emphasis. Biotechnology is a knowledge-intensive industry, requiring a solid basis in R&D capability and the injection of large amount of capital to sustain its growth. In the Plan for Strengthening the Development of the Biotechnology Industry
, the investments made by enterprises in R&D and personnel training will be tax deductible. The government is also allocating a sizable budget every year for the biotechnology industry, and is instituting incentive measures by providing funding to vendors who initiate projects to develop new products. In addition, Taiwan's Securities and Futures Commission is taking steps to relax the stock market and OTC listing requirements imposed on biotechnology companies, allowing them to raise capital more easily.
In addition, to stimulate the development of a cluster effect among enterprises in the biotechnology industry, plans have been drawn up to establish the Nankang Biotechnology Building, to develop biotechnology sections within the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park and Tainan Science-based Industrial Park, and to establish an agricultural biotech park in southern Taiwan. Work is also about to begin on the establishment of the Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park. Attracted by the growth potential of Taiwan's biotechnology industry, Canada's largest venture capital firm, MDS Capital, and Innovatech, another venture capital firm operating under the auspices of the Quebec government, are looking for investment opportunities in Taiwan's hi-tech sector. Furthermore, IBM has chosen Taiwan as the location for its first bioinformatics R&D center in the Asia Pacific region.
Societe Generale Securities of France rates Taiwan as having the greatest potential for developing a biotechnology industry among all the Asian countries. Its survey also shows that Taiwan provides good protection for intellectual property rights, has a superior industrial development infrastructure, and has a wealth of funding sources. In addition, first-class human resources, low R&D costs, and high-precision production technology give the island an advantage in the development of the biotechnology industry. Taiwan offers biotechnology companies from all over the world a superior investment environment and abundant business opportunities.
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