The four Taiwan facilities are Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Linkou District, New Taipei City, and National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei Veterans General Hospital and Tri-Service General Hospital, all in Taipei City, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
This breakthrough eliminates the need to conduct another set of clinical trials in mainland China, cutting considerable time off the approval process for drug-makers developing new products. It helps drug-makers earn more money from sales of their products while protected by patents.
The development was made possible by the Cross-Strait Cooperation Agreement on Medicine and Public Health Affairs concluded in December 2010 by Taiwan and mainland China. Under the pact, the two sides agreed four years later to mutually recognize clinical data so as to avoid duplicating trials.
Naricci Chang, an official from the Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry—a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting biotech and medicine industry in Taiwan—said the recognition potentially saves Taiwan pharmaceutical firms up to three years in bringing a product to the mainland Chinese market.
One other benefit of the recognition, Chang added, is that multinational pharmaceutical companies targeting the mainland Chinese market will now be more interested in conducting clinical trials in Taiwan.
“Medical experts from Taiwan participating in such trials are likely to enjoy higher international profiles,” she said. “Local patients can also expect to access a wider range of newly developed drugs by leading global outfits.”
Taiwan has had relatively advanced medicine industry, blessed with a pool of high-quality medical researchers and practitioners, as well as care workers and the ability to manufacture sophisticated medical products. To fully realize Taiwan’s potential as a stronghold of biotechnology, the government started giving support to the sector in the 1980s.
The passage of the Act for the Development of Biotech and New Pharmaceuticals Industry in 2007 has further shown the government’s resolve to develop it. The legislation helped the industry attract significant investment over the past decade by providing tax incentives and other measures to stimulate industry growth and spur national economic development.
This has helped boost the competiveness of Taiwan-developed new drugs while marking a step forward for the country to develop into a hub of pharmaceutical research and clinical trials in the Asia-Pacific region. (JSM)
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