BIO Asia–Taiwan 2021 unleashes Plethora of B io entrepreneurial Opportunities
As the world is approaching the post-pandemic era, BIO Asia–Taiwan 2021 enters its third successful year. For the sake of the international audience, for the first time ever ‘pre-event preview sessions’ were held to increase online engagement opportunities with participating companies and exhibitors. BioSpectrum Asia brings you a firsthand report of this conference.
The Taiwan Bio Industry Organisation (Taiwan BIO) together with the Global Biotechnology Innovation Organisation (BIO) jointly held the ‘BIO Asia–Taiwan 2021’ conference during July 21-25, 2021. With the theme ‘A Brave New Era for Biotechnology’ the conference explored breakthrough opportunities for the post-pandemic era.
The five-day virtual Asia Biotechnology Conference (BIO Asia Taiwan) was made accessible on BIO’s One-on-one Partnering platform for 24 hours a day throughout the conference period for ease of use across time zones and regions. BIO Asia–Taiwan 2021 provided ample opportunities for business meetings, networking and collaboration. As the pandemic situation is still unpredictable in Taiwan, the onsite exhibition has been postponed to November 4-7, 2021.
For the sake of the international audience, for the first time ever ‘pre-event preview sessions’ were held to increase online engagement opportunities with participating companies and exhibitors. The preevent session also assisted in scheduling meetings through the BIO One-on-one Partnering platform. The online forum format gathered the global biomedical community to network without boundaries in an interactive exhibition enthralled by one-on-one partnering. A wide range of communication tools were available to seamlessly connect participants and to drive meetings and deals.
Further, international participation was extended by convening an International Committee, with members including Joseph Damond, BIO’s Executive Vice President International Affairs; Yoshiaki Tsukamoto, Executive Director, Japan Bioindustry Association (JBA); Albert Yu, Chairman of Hong Kong BIO (HKBIO); Christopher Ko, Chairman of Korea BIO; Damian O’Connell, CEO of Experimental Drug Research and Development (A*STAR), Singapore; Sirasak Teparkum, Deputy CEO, Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELS); Murali P M, Chairman, Jananom Private Limited, India; David Flores, President of BioCentury; and Andrew Wylegala, CEO, American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan (AmCham).
The conference also hosted members of the
Asian Federation of Biotechnology along with representatives from Korea, Malaysia, Japan, India, and Taiwan as they presented and discussed bioindustry related topics pertinent to their countries.
More than 100 international speakers explored forefront innovations and interactive sessions on topics including breakthrough technology, latest medical innovations, digital health, gene and cell therapies, and bio-industry cooperation and investment. This year the conference programme attracted 1,450 online attendees with over 6,500 conference views.
Using a highly-engaging interactive platform, the online exhibition hosted 300 exhibitors from Taiwan and around the world, and attracted an impressive 47,054 visits over the course of its showing. The forum was extended for an extra four days by opening on July 19 and closing on July 28, exclusively for this year. Additionally, 400 companies benefited from BIO’s One-on-one Partnering platform encouraging a record high of 4,000 registered partnering meetings.
Ching-Te Lai, Vice President of Taiwan inaugurated the conference followed by President and CEO of the global Biotechnology Innovation Organisation (BIO), Michelle McMurry. For the third consecutive year, BIO was co-organiser of the event along with the Taiwan Bio Industry Organisation (Taiwan BIO).
The Biomedical industry is one of the ‘Six
Core Strategic Industries’ for Taiwan’s national development. The event provided an efficient communication platform to Taiwan’s biotechnology industry and built a strong connection between the exhibitors and worldwide buyers. The platform
gathered over 300 leading brands from 16 countries. Online Expo with a virtual booth had presentations and demonstrations with texts, photos, video, live chat and video call options for connecting with the exhibitors. Digital platform assisted in finding exhibitors and products through targeted search and also created easy access to Taiwan’s contract development and manufacturing companies.
Partnership prospects
On July 21, 2021, the virtual BIO Asia Taiwan gathering witnessed a grand opening with four online sessions and 20+ speeches and panel discussions featuring an expert lineup of international and local key opinion leaders. The premier biomedical conference focused on five major themes, namely; global anti-epidemic, advanced therapies, precision medicine, digital medicine, and investment and regional cooperation.
A plenary session addressing a new era in the ‘Global perspectives of Biotechnology’ deduced how the biomedical industry is reinventing itself as it emerges from COVID-19. Experts iterated that the Biotech industry is under spotlight with increased interest in healthcare supported by new market conditions, upended policy and regulatory environments, novel ways to nurture platform technologies, and fresh collaboration and investment models. Global speakers at the forum evaluated the changes brought about by the pandemic at a global scale. Experts collectively shared the opinion that the epidemic/pandemic promotes scientific innovation, partnerships, and healthy digital growth. According to the third quarter of last year (2020) data, the income situation of healthcare E-commerce and consumer industries have rapidly grown.
A discussion aimed at the partnership between pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies was an added highlight of the forum. Multinational pharmaceutical company representatives including Taiwanese Novartis President Jorge Wagner, AstraZeneca President Chen Kangwei, Johnson & Johnson Asia Pacific Innovation Center Founder Stephen Lee, and Chen Ronghua, Chairman of the Developmental Pharmaceutical Research Association (IRPMA) of the Republic of China, and Xu Yinxiong, General Manager of Acer Smart Medical, and many more shared the ideology behind successful partnership among multinational pharmaceutical companies in terms of investment and cooperation. The elites also stressed upon cross-border and crossfield cooperation among biotech companies.
In a comprehensive discussion, Chern-Chyi
Chen, Deputy Minister of Taiwan’s Ministry of
“The government has launched capital market strategies to support Taiwan’s biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, all of which are attributed to the Taiwan’s Act for the Development of Biotech and New Pharmaceuticals”
- Chung-Hsiun Wu,
Chairman, Taiwan Bio Industry Organization
“The development of Taiwan’s biotechnology industry cannot rely solely on the government. When academic research is translated into clinical practices, it must ultimately rely on industry for mass production”.
- Steve, H. S. Kuo,
Professor, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
“The global biotechnology industry capital markets, including Taiwan, have reached a peak during this pandemic. Since 3 years, Taiwan domestic capital markets booked fewer new drug licensing, M&A cases compared to those in medical devices. From Taiwan’s capital market it can be understood that investors prefer short-term profits”.
- Audrey Tseng,
Honorary Deputy Chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Taiwan
“Many innovative technologies were discovered during the pandemic in Taiwan last year. However, due to regulatory obstacles and other factors, many products could not be connected to the rapidly evolving pandemic, and opportunities for biotechnology business & turnover was missed. However, the injection of VC funds and international connections can boost business values in Taiwan”.
- Jerome Shen,
General Partner, Taiwania Capital Management Corporation
Economic Affairs, Wu Xiumei, Director of the Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Zhan Fangguan, Director of the National Development Commission, shared Taiwan’s current biotech medicine development strategies and expressed their determination to integrate Taiwan Biotech sector into the international value chain.
Advanced Biotechnology and Precision health
The 2021 Asian Biotechnology Conference also unravelled Taiwan’s epidemic prevention capabilities and biotechnology contributions to the world. The
Vice President of Taiwan, Ching-Te Lai emphasised coordination and cooperation among the international groups for accelerated growth in the global biomedical industry chain.
While the COVID-19 is still a major concern worldwide, BIO Asia–Taiwan 2021 focused significantly on the pandemic, with a dedicated session entitled ‘Pandemic Control after Vaccination’. Leading public health and pandemic experts debated on the most promising vaccine and therapeutic developments achieved. Taiwan is also into the all-new Precision Health Initiative, a 2021 blueprint to develop and integrate precision health’s essential elements including Taiwan’s unique bio-data resources such as the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) and BioBank. A group of experts drove the interest towards ‘Public Private Partnership for Precision Health’.
‘AI-enabled Smart Healthcare’, was a spotlight on the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution session. AI has exploded onto the medical scene, impacting diagnostics, the prediction of future diseases, genetic analysis, reducing clinical error rates, and accelerating pharmaceutical and medical device research and development. Discussion on ‘Data-driven Precision Health Technologies’ introduced Precision-Health as the new healthcare paradigm. Bio-data, data management and artificial intelligence were defined as essentials in empowering this novel healthcare model.
Prospects, Investment and trajectories
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), along with Vivo Capital organised a session on ‘Growth with Exit Strategy’ featuring major investment bankers, corporate fund managers of multinational companies, leading VC’s, finance and experts, and pharma deal makers, discussing investment and exit options. The session spotlighted recent significant biotech Initial Public Offering (IPOs), mergers, acquisitions and licensing deals.
The session highlighted that despite COVID scenarios the industry is booming at least from a
“Through this year’s BIO Asia– Taiwan, we show Taiwan’s epidemic prevention capabilities and biotechnology development to the world, especially to promote international cooperation, so that Taiwan can play a more important role in the global biomedical industry chain”.
- Ching-te Lai,
Vice President, Taiwan
“Taiwan’s biotech industry has a revenue of $21 billion and last year the industry grew by 7.4%, probably because of COVID-19 [attracting investment attention to Taiwan]. In 2020 investment in Taiwan’s biotech industry reached $2.5 billion,”
- Chern-Chyi “C.C.” Chen,
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan
“The pandemic has given everyone a better understanding of the importance of the biotechnology industry. Taiwan has always regarded itself as a ‘medical power’, but good doctors, medical systems, and academic research are not enough, and it needs the assistance of ‘industry’. That’s the next step in the development of the biomedical industry”.
- Johnsee Lee,
Chairman, BIO Asia-Taiwan 2021 Organizing Committee
“Taiwan is thriving to quickly bring new medical interventions from the laboratory to clinic and make them available to the public. To continue the long term fight against this and future pandemics, it is important to accelerate exchanges between industry and academia”.
- Chii-Wann Lin,
Vice President and General Director, Biomedical Technology and Device Research Labs, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI)
financial perspective, with an almost record-breaking 70 IPOs in 2020 and 2021, the maximum on track biotech IPOs ever. The session further discussed the global biotechnology industry trend and advocated reinforced connection establishment between Taiwan’s industry and the international market to create business opportunities.
Johnsee Lee, Chairman at BIO Asia–Taiwan 2021 Organizing Committee, Ching-Te Lai, Vice President of Taiwan; Michelle McMurry-Heath, President of
BIO, USA; Chung-Hsiun Wu, Chairman of Taiwan Bio Industry Organization delivered insights on Taiwan Biotechnology industry prospects and trajectories.
Chung-Hsiun Wu pointed out that in 2020, the market value of Taiwan’s biotechnology industry has exceeded NT$600 billion, an increase of 7.4 per cent over the previous year, and the investment in the biotechnology industry has reached NT$60.7 billion, a record high in recent years.
“In addition, the National Development Fund of the Executive Yuan also invested NT$13.35 billion in 15 biotech companies and 26 biotech startups. As of the end of 2020, there were 124 Over-the-counter (OTC) biotech companies in Taiwan with a record high turnover” added Chung-Hsiun Wu. The government has diversified capital market strategies to support Taiwan’s biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, all of which are attributed to the Biotechnology New Drug Development Regulation.
“As of June 2021, a total of 154 biotech new drug companies in Taiwan have obtained drug licenses, including: 401 projects that have obtained new drug certification and 53 products that have been approved for listing, showing the growing momentum of domestic biotechnology” added Chung-Hsiun Wu.
Focus on latest biomedical tech
On July 22, 2021, the third day of the BIO Asia-Taiwan Asian Biotechnology conference, the forum explored latest biomedical technology with special focus on advanced immune, cell, and gene therapy.
The agenda focused on Cytohormone Therapy, Cell and Gene Therapy, Indefinite Tumor Type Therapy, Accelerated Medical Treatment Demand, Five themes of Biodesign in Asia and Asian Bioeconomy.
A session on ‘Global Trends in Innovative Cell and Gene Therapy’ co-sponsored by the Biotechnology Center, Qiuhui Qiu, Director of the Technology Department pointed out that Taiwan is actively constructing key technologies and production capabilities for the cell and gene therapy supply chain, including key raw materials and cell carriers. Process systems, intelligent production, quality control processes, and contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) were listed as some of the essentials for Taiwan’s cell and gene therapy industry.
Biodesign institutes are partnering across industry and academia with Asian medical device design programmes to raise standards and resolve unmet medical needs. In Asia, Taiwan, India, Singapore and Japan have their own Stanford Biodesign programmes. The need for an accelerated bio-process to meet medical priorities was discussed in the ‘Asian Biodesign‘ session. The forum co-sponsored by Taipei Medical University and Stanford scholars took India and Japan as examples to illustrate how Biodesign can help overcome unfavourable environments locally, such as through public-private collaboration and by participation of international non-profit organisations to break through the backward ecosystem.
Taiwan’s Biotechnology Development Center
(DCB) organised a forum focusing on regenerative medicine (including cell and gene therapy). In addition, Liu Mingxun, CEO of the Center for Drug Inspection (CDE), introduced the current status of global cell and gene therapy regulatory approvals. He mentioned that Taiwan has also formulated a new drug clinical trial (IND) and inspection registration (NDA) management accelerated review plan.
Representatives from South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, India, and Taiwan discussed creating a better world economy in the areas ranging from drug development & discovery, biopharma manufacturing, industrial biotech and agribiotech in Asia. Li Wengan, Chairman of the Asian Biotechnology Alliance (AFOB), engaged bioeconomy experts from all over Asia to share their views. Johnsee Lee, Chairman of BIO Asia Taiwan 2021 Organizing Committee stated that the epidemic has given everyone a better understanding of the importance of the biotechnology industry. He emphasised that the longterm development of the industry is still essential, and continuous innovation, R&D and cooperation are needed to drive the overall development of biotechnology and medicine in Taiwan.
Onsite exhibition at TaiNEX 2
The first Phase of Asia’s premier biotechnology gathering, BIO Asia–Taiwan 2021 concluded with all-online activities encompassing international conferences, exhibitions, partnering meetings, company presentations and more. An onsite holding of the exhibition is scheduled for November4-7, 2021 at TaiNEX 2, Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center as an extended second phase of this event.