The nation’s biotech industry has had a strong performance over the past few years, with turnover for the sector hitting NT$191.2 billion (US$6.34 billion) last year — double the figure for 2000 — a report released by the Council for Economic Planning and Development said yesterday.
The council, which drafts proposals for national economic development and coordinates and evaluates their implementation, said the number of listed and over-the-counter biotech companies had increased ninefold since 2000.
The industry includes biotech companies, pharmaceutical firms and suppliers of other medical supplies and equipment, the report said, adding that annual growth for the sector averaged 11 percent between 2000 and last year.
In 2006, providers of medical supplies and equipment outperformed drug makers in terms of business volume.
Taiwanese companies selling electronic thermometers, digital blood pressure meters, electric wheelchairs and respiratory therapy equipment accounted for more than 30 percent of the global market for those products, the report said.
The rosy business outlook has led to investment in the industry increasing 123 percent over the last seven years, the report said. The spending amounted to NT$12.1 billion in 2000, topped NT$20 billion in 2001 and hit NT$27 billion last year.
The government has said it prioritizes the industry’s growth and last July the Biotech and Pharmaceutical Industry Development Statute (生技新藥產業發展條例) was promulgated.
The statute provides tax breaks and other incentives for companies in the industry that spend on research and development, personnel training and transfer of know-how. The incentives, effective until the end of 2021, will make the biotech and pharmaceutical industry the sole beneficiary of tax breaks once the Statute for Upgrading Industries (促進產業升級條例) expires at the end of next year.
Employees in biotech companies who receive stock options also do not have to pay income tax on the shares under last year’s statute. In addition, government researchers can work as consultants at the companies and transfer their know-how to them.
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
JET JUICE: The war on Iran’s secondary effects have seen fuel prices skyrocket, knocking flight schedules down to earth in return as airlines struggle with costs Airline passengers should brace for more irritation in the next few months as carriers worldwide cancel flights and ground planes to cope with stratospheric increases in jet-fuel prices. Dutch flag carrier KLM is the latest company to cut its schedule, saying on Thursday that it would scrap 80 return flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the coming month. That puts it in the same league as United Airlines Holdings Inc, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, which have all pruned itineraries to mitigate costs. Global capacity for next month has been reduced by about 3 percentage points, with all
Taichung reported the steepest fall in completed home prices among the six special municipalities in the first quarter of this year, data compiled by Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) showed yesterday. From January through last month, the average transaction price for completed homes in Taichung fell 8 percent from a year earlier to NT$299,000 (US$9,483) per ping (3.3m²), said Taiwan Realty, which compiled the data based on the government’s price registration platform. The decline could be attributed to many home buyers choosing relatively affordable used homes to live in themselves, instead of newly built homes in the city’s prime property market, Taiwan Realty
Taiwan is attracting a growing number of foreign jobseekers as companies increasingly recruit overseas talent to ease labor shortages and expand global reach, recruitment platform 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行) said yesterday. More than 40,000 foreign nationals searched for jobs in Taiwan through the platform last year, a 28 percent increase from a year earlier, the company said. Malaysians accounted for the largest share of overseas jobseekers at 12.2 percent, followed by Indonesians at 11.9 percent and Vietnamese at 10.8 percent. Indonesian applicants surged more than 50 percent year-on-year, while Vietnamese jobseekers rose by more than 30 percent. Applicants from the
RSS