Taiwan's biotechnology industry mainly consists of manufacturing industries and related technical services in the three
major
fields of emerging biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
Taiwan's biotechnology industry had a total turnover
of NT$210.5 billion in 2009, an increase of about 5% over 2008, with the emerging biotechnology industry
growing at the fastest rate of nearly 9%.
The growth rate of emerging biotechnology industry is the fastest, nearly 9%. Among the various fields, the medical device industry had the highest turnover of NT$82.5 billion, and the pharmaceutical industry had a turnover of NT$70 billion.
The main indicators of Taiwan's biotechnology industry from 2008 to 2009 are shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Current status of Taiwan's biotechnology industry in 2008-2009
Amount: NT$100 billion
Table 1: Status of Taiwan's biotechnology industry in 2008-2009
Amount: NT$100 billion
Table 2: Status of Taiwan's biotechnology industry in 2008-2009
Emerging Biotech Industry Pharmaceutical Industry Medical Device Industry Total
Year 2008 2009 2008 2009 2008 2009 2008 2009 2009
Turnover 530 580 690 700 790 825 2010 2105
Number of Manufacturers 320 380 320 367 544 553 1184 1300
Number of employees (persons) 9600 9750 11250 18000 21923 22900 42773 50650
Export value 212 237 135 145 330 335 677 717
Import value 225 240 740 759 470 484 1435 1483
Domestic :Export 60:40 59:41 80:20 79:21 65:35 66:34 66:34 65:35
Domestic Market Demand 543 583 1295 1314 930 974 2768 2871
Item
Category
Object
Source
Source: 2010 White Paper on Biotechnology Industry, Bureau of Industry, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan
Of the three major fields, Taiwan's emerging biotechnology industry refers to the industry that applies genetic engineering to engage in the research, development and manufacturing of products
. Taiwan's emerging biotechnology industry is relatively small in scale and is mainly divided into six areas, namely, biological
agents, agricultural biotechnology, specialized biotechnology, food biotechnology, environmental biotechnology
and biotechnology services, and its related products are shown in Table 2. At present, the development of food biotechnology, specialized biotechnology, agricultural biotechnology and biotechnology service industry is nearly mature. Although biologics are a hotspot for investment, with the number of vendors accounting for 36% of the total number of emerging biotechnology
1 vendors in 2009, their share of turnover is low. This is mainly due to the fact that biological
agents are still at the stage of research and preclinical trials, a few have entered the clinical trial stage, and only
vaccine products have been approved for marketing.
Table 2 Taiwan's Emerging Biotechnology Industries and Products in 2009
Industry Fields Biotechnology Application Products
Biological Preparations
Genetically Engineered Protein Drugs, Allergen Agents, Blood Agents, Gene Therapy,
Vaccines and Toxoid, Stem Cells
Agricultural Biotechnology
Plant Seedling, Aquatic Seedling, Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Animal Vaccines, Functional Foods,
Biological Agriculture, Biological Fertilizers, Testing and Diagnostics, Molecular Farming
Specialty Biotechnology Biotechnology Cosmetics, Industrial Enzymes, Amino Acids, Biological Polymers
Food Biotechnology Nutraceuticals, Health Foods, Edible Enzymes
Environmental Biotechnology
Environmental biologics, biodegradable materials, environmental testing reagents, biomass
Energy
Biotechnology services
Commissioned research and development, commissioned production, clinical trial center management organization, outsourcing marketing
Services, experimental instruments/materials supply, platform technology services, intellectual property rights/technology
Technology evaluation, venture capital, information services, and other services. Technology Evaluation, Venture Capital, Information Service, Talent Training
Source: 2010 White Paper on Biotechnology Industry, Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan
Taiwan's pharmaceutical industry consists of three major categories, namely, pharmaceutical preparations, APIs, and traditional Chinese herbs, with western pharmaceuticals
preparations being the most important, with the turnover of western pharmaceuticals reaching NT$43.9 billion in 2009
Taiwan is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. Taiwan's
medical equipment industry includes diagnostic equipment, therapeutic equipment, rehabilitation equipment, general medical aids
equipment and supplies, and healthcare equipment and supplies. The main products of medical devices still focus on mature products such as electric
mobility scooters, blood pressure monitors, blood glucose monitors, contact lenses, and medical consumables, which
have a high market share in the world. In recent years, implantable medical devices have also been developed,
such as hyaluronic acid and collagen implants, etc., while advanced medical device products with high value-added
are still relatively few, causing Taiwan's medical device turnover growth to slow down slightly.
The development of Taiwan's biotechnology industry is supported by the government's measures to increase biotechnology investment, improve biotechnology regulations, strengthen international cooperation, cultivate biotechnology talents, and promote the formation of biotechnology
industry clusters. In terms of investment, in 2009, the amount of private
2 investment in Taiwan's biotechnology industry was NT$26.28 billion; as of March 2010, Taiwan's National
Development Fund of the Executive Yuan had approved investment in 33 biotechnology investment projects, and the cumulative amount of approved investment
had reached NT$11.174 billion; at the end of 2009, Taiwan's public offering market **** had 42% of the total biotechnology investment projects. At the end of 2009, there were 42 listed biotech companies in Taiwan, including 12 listed companies and 30 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, with a turnover of NT$47 billion, an increase of 3.14% from 2008. In terms of industrial clusters,
Taiwan has formed the central-level Hsinchu Biomedical Park and Pingtung Agricultural
Biotechnology Park; biotechnology parks with local economic characteristics, such as the Changhua County
"National Biotechnology Park", and the National Biotechnology Park in Changhua County.
"National Flower Park" in Changhua County, "Taiwan Orchid Bio-technology Park" in Tainan County, and "Nangang Bio-technology Park" in Taipei, which focuses on R&D.
Through the industrial clusters, the biotechnology development force is integrated to promote the development of the biotechnology industry.
With the signing of the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), Taiwan is now strengthening cross-strait industrial exchanges in order to reach a *** understanding and realize the industrial business opportunities of ECFA. In the biotechnology industry
, Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs believes that future cross-strait cooperation is expected in the areas of biologics, APIs, medical devices
, and R&D services.