Realizing the lack of
natural resources (such as petroleum or other valuable minerals) in the island,
early Taiwanese governments have defined clear economic strategies that would
help the country to flourish. A special consideration was given to the sector
of services to strengthen the local economy. According to 2009 data by Taiwan
Statistical Bureau (eng.stat.gov.tw ), the service sector
(finance, real estate, commerce, telecommunication, etc.) contributed the
biggest slice of GDP at 69.2 percent, with industry accounting for 29.2
percent, and agriculture 1.8 percent. These changes have begun since early
1980s when Taiwan's government shifted the focus of its economic strategy from
Labor-intensive production (processed foods, wood and bamboo products) to capital-and
technology-intensive industrialization (Chei-Hsiang
Chen, 2007). By now, more than a quarter of national workforce is
employed in the electronics and high-tech manufacturing sector, only. As of
2016, manufacturing sector represents up to 30 percent of GDP among various
other economic categories such as agriculture, construction, electricity,
trade, transport, public administration, finance and real estate (eng.stat.gov.tw).
In 2016, the Taiwanese
government has launched a new industrial development policy consisting to
promote the development of "Five Innovative Industries": (1) Smart
machinery, (2) Asian Silicon Valley, (3) Green energy, (4) National defense,
(5) Biotechnology & pharmaceutical industry (IDB
MOE, 2017). About the latest category, Taiwan has become one of the top
leaders worldwide in the field of biotechnology and has ambitious aim to shine
internationally. According to the Development Center for Biotechnology (an
initiative of Taiwan government, dcb.org.tw), biotechnology industry encompasses three main
sub-sectors: applied biotechnology (agriculture and environment), medical
devices (electronics) and pharmaceuticals. As Taiwan High-tech continues to
grow, new incentives have been given to biopharma firms to boost both
innovation and new products development. Taiwan’s biotech firms include Taimed,
Medigen, TaiGen, TopoGenomics, TTY Biopharma in addition to many others with a
combined market cap of US$23 billion. Taiwan currently has 96 drugs in the
development pipeline, over half of them in Stage 2 clinical trials. Up to
October 2016, for the studies listed in the US-managed website-
clinicaltrials.gov, Taiwan was in first position (1537 trials) before Korea
(1455), China (1372), Japan (1305) and India (1115), respectively in this
descending order (Shang-Pwu Shia, 2016).
Innovative and ambitious
approaches that were implemented by the Taiwanese giant biotech corporation, Medigen
Vaccine Biologics Co, hope to be soon rewarding. If the vaccine being
researched by Medigen for the dreadful dengue fever infection is successfully
formulated, Taiwan will be known as the home of a major medical contribution
that helps to protect around 4 billion people worldwide exposed to the threat
of this disease, according to a news report by Sophia
Yeh and Evelyn Kao, 2016. For sure, that will be also a boost for the
biotech versus biopharma industry in Taiwan. And more importantly, this vaccine
will counteract the life threaten risk of the victims by the virus and
alleviate the social economic burden faced by affected families. Recently, a
Filipina worker whom I know in Taichung, has reported the sudden death of her
seven-year-old nice in the Philippines, due to Japanese dengue infection. This
paper is a mean that I use to share my condolences with the family. There is
hope, only and only if new vaccines are successfully developed. Good luck to
Medigen!
Reference:
1-
IDB MOEA (2016 October). 2017 Introduction to Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical
industries Industries in Taiwan, Republic of China. ISBN: 978-986-05-0005-9.
2-
Yeh, S. & Kao, E. (2016, October 26). Taiwan striving to boost biotech
industry growth: vice president. Retrieved from http://focustaiwan.tw/news/ast/201610260018.aspx
3-
Shia, S. P. (2016, October 28). Biotech Industry in Taiwan. Retrieved from http://www.nccu.edu.tw/
4-
Chen, C.H. (2007). Taiwan Biotech and the Pharmaceutical Industries. APBN, 11,
835