Taipei, July 5, 2010 (CENS)--The government should focus its effort on the early establishment of the projected NT$60 B. biotech venture capital fund and introduce foreign cutting-edge biotech technologies into Taiwan, rather than the development of biotech park, said Johnsee Lee, chairman of Taiwan Bio Industry Organization, yesterday (July 4).

Lee, also chairman of the Development Center for Biotechnology and former chairman of Industrial Technology Research Institute, remarked that Taiwan should concentrate on the "second stage" in the development process of biotech products, which in the case of new medicines refers to the "translation" stage between initial R&D and clinical test.

Global input, said Lee, for the "translation" task is insufficient at present, a main reason behind the limited amount of new biotech products in recent years, despite continuous increase in the budget appropriated by governments around the world for investments in basic R&D for biotechnology. The phenomenon gives Taiwan an opportunity to carve out a niche presence in the global biotech market, according to Lee.

Lee pointed out that to support the "translation" task, the government should step up effort in raising the NT$60 billion biotech fund, which is included in "diamond action plan for biotech takeoff," passed by the Executive Yuan (the Cabinet) last March. The fund can be used in soliciting good investment teams and pinpointing good investment targets, both domestic and foreign ones, as well as undertaking market analysis and patent deployment.

Lee worried that presently the biotech development plan appears to focus on hardware investment, such as the establishment of a biotech R&D park in the compound of former ammunition plants in Nangang district of Taipei City.

Testing works for the "translation task," such as toxicity test, pharmacokinetic test, and pharmacological experiment, can be farmed out to overseas laboratories, when possible, according to Lee.

Lee pointed out that the National Science Council will launch a new five-year biomedicine research plan from 2011, which may lead to the emergence of excessive number of "core laboratories," due to its support for academia to establish such facilities. In fact, many tasks of the "core laboratories" can be undertaken by the private sector, according to Lee. The national plan boasts a budget of NT$16.7 billion, of which NT$5.6 billion is earmarked for supporting the establishment of "core laboratories.

(by Philip Liu)