Taipei, March 23, 2009 (CENS)--The Science and Technology Advisory Group of the Executive Yuan (the Cabinet) is scheduled to put forth the "biotech takeoff plan," calling for the setup of a mega NT$60 billion biotech venture-capital fund, with the aim of doubling the annual output of Taiwan`s biotech industry to NT$300 billion in four years.

The plan has been formulated in response to the instruction of President Ma Ying-jeou in late February for the Executive Yuan to come up with the development strategies for six emerging industries, namely biotech, tourism and travel, medical care, green energy, cultural innovation, and sophisticated agriculture.

The national development fund under the Executive Yuan will contribute 40% of the biotech fund, with the remaining 60% to come from the private sector. The initial scale of the fund is set at NT$7-10 billion and it is designed to be in operation for 10 years.

The private-sector partners of the fund will take charge in establishing an investment evaluation team for selecting investment targets, both in Taiwan and abroad, in order to introduce cutting-edge technologies or obtain the dominance of outstanding biotech firms.

In addition to the fund, the "biotech takeoff plan" also envisions the setup of a national biotech incubation center, the strengthening of the functions of the Development Center for Biotechnology, and the establishment of new-medicine selection committee. Already furnished with a national-standard toxicology laboratory, the center will expand its workforce to over 1,000, up from 400 now. The goal is to transform the center into a pre-clinical base, carrying out toxic testing for all new medicines before their clinical tests.

The mission of the biotech incubation center is to introduce the technologies of the biotech firms invested by the biotech fund into Chupei or Nankang bio-medicine parks and carry out commercialization of those technologies at the parks.

The new-medicine selection committee will consist of domestic and overseas experts, responsible for the allocation of bio-medicine research projects among various academic institutions according their respective strength.


(by Philip Liu)