Reported by Huang Wen-Chi from Taipei

Promoting “smart medicine” is high on the government’s agenda.  This task will be led by the Executive Yuan with support from the MOHW and Academia Sinica.  Dr Wu Tsung-Tsong, Minister without Portfolio of the Executive Yuan, expressed that the MOHW is working with Academia Sinica to integrate19 bio banks into the Taiwan BioBank, which will link with the NHI database to form the foundation for the future development of smart medicine in Taiwan.  The government aims to attract investment from international companies to further exploit the potential of the Taiwan BioBank.

Dr Wu Tsung-Tsong expressed that, in the future, the Taiwan BioBank and the NHI database can work to Taiwan biomedical industry’s advantage.  The integration of the two databases will expedite and promote the R&D of drugs and medical treatments.  It will help to combat diseases and enhance the biomedical industry’s capacity. 

The Biobank is a collection of the blood and biological specimens and gene data of healthy human beings, as well as patients with specific diseases.  The data can facilitate the researches of treatments for diseases.

Similar programs are rolling out in many countries, including the UK, the US, Canada, Germany, Japan.  At present, Academia Sinica has the Taiwan’s largest bio databank, which was established in 2012.  So far, it has collected 100,000 human specimens.  The target is 300,000.

Dr Wu expressed that Taiwan is aiming for a diversified biomedical industry.  The Taiwan BioBank is our great advantage; however, the data need to be in a consistent format before they can be integrated, said Dr Wu.

The NHI database has, since its implementation, accumulated a huge volume of data about medication and treatments.  Linking the NHI database with the Taiwan BioBank will widen the application of the big data.

【2018-06-17 / Economic Daily】