The government-funded venture capital firm TMF Management Co (TMF管顧公司) yesterday said it is talking to several public and private investors to raise as much as NT$5 billion (US$172.89 million) by December, with the aim of putting Taiwan on the global biotech map.
The fund, called Taiwan Medtech Fund (TMF), got an injection of NT$1 billion from the Executive Yuan’s National Development Fund in June.
State-run firms including CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油), China Steel Corp (中鋼), Taiwan Sugar Corp (台糖) and Taiwan Salt Co (台鹽) are involved in the talks and their combined investments will be not exceed NT$1 billion, TMF Management chairman Jang Yue-teh (張有德) said.
“We are also looking to private firms for capital,” he told reporters, adding that investor targets include entrepreneurs who have passion for medical health, especially those who have experience in the field or who had family members that have suffered from serious illnesses.
Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團) chairman Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) younger brother died of bone marrow cancer, while Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) has battled lung cancer.
When asked if firms such as Hon Hai were on the target list, Jang declined to comment, but said there would be more announcements soon.
“Taiwan has been talking about developing its biotech sector for more than 20 years,” he said. “But progress is going nowhere given a lack of talent, capital and an understanding of its importance.”
The venture capitalist plans to set up incubation centers that will generate, develop and -commercialize new ideas, and help market the end products in China, where the huge market could lead to big sales possibilities, said Stan Shih (施振榮), chairman of iD SoftCapital Inc (智融集團) and the founder of Acer Group (宏碁集團).
iD SoftCapital was invited by TMF Management to share its experiences and the former has not ruled out the possibility of investing in some projects.
The incubation centers would generate ideas mainly through research institutes and from academics, although they may come from anywhere in the world, as long as the ideas benefit Taiwan in certain ways, Jang said.
He said viable projects would either need to have their products produced here, or include -Taiwanese research and development teams, or Taiwan would have to have a say in the commercialization of the product, he said.
TMF is looking to invest in projects that research illnesses such as diabetes, sleeping disorders, cardiovascular disease and in fields including neurosciences and orthopedics, as well as remote and home-care medical services.
Jang is a partner in the US-based Vertical Group, a venture capital firm focused on medical technology and biotechnology.
He has more than 20 years of experience in various executive positions in the healthcare industry and currently serves on the boards of directors of Dynamic Implants, Forte Bio Inc and Inphenix Corp.
Prior to the Vertical Group, he was president and CEO of Embol-X, a private company engaged in the development of proprietary medical devices to prevent strokes during cardiac surgery.
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