Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua on Sept. 29 said that Taiwan’s efforts towards integrating biotechnology, health care and information communication technology resources have attracted more NT$6.7 billion in foreign investments over the past two years. In addition, graphics processing units maker Nvidia Corp. and Taiwan’s Quanta Computer Inc. have begun collaborating on developing medical applications and have expressed interest in Taiwan’s biotechnology sector.

Minister Wang said that Taiwan has a large number of publicly traded biotechnology companies, which is uncommon in other industries. These companies have been cleared to export seven types of drugs abroad with combined market value of around NT$2 billion. Taiwanese companies also have 61 medical devices which have received marketing approval in the U.S. However, the medical devices have a market value of around NT$560 billion, which Minister Wang said was inadequate.

Minister Wang also noted that the biotechnology sector is one that requires the assistance of different government agencies. She said that she has received appeals by a company that has developed a COVID-19 test and despite the product’s effectiveness, the company has not been able to gain the support of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. As a result, the company resolved to apply for marketing approval abroad with the hope of importing the COVID-19 tests back to Taiwan.

Regarding the Act for the Development of Biotech and New Pharmaceuticals Industry currently being drafted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Industrial Development Bureau, Minister Wang said that the statute covers areas including human resources and funding. Although Taiwan has a deep talent pool, the domestic biotechnology sector has continued to fall short in building significant scale.

In terms of funding, as the scope of the newer revision of the statute aims to expand tax incentives to include regenerative medicine, precision medicine and digital medicine, the Ministry of Finance is concerned over lost tax revenues, and government agencies have not been able to come to an agreement on the matter. Therefore, the Ministry of Economic Affairs is looking for alternative solutions to establish a consensus with other government agencies before the end of this year.