United BioPharma (聯合生技), a monoclonal antibody drugmaker spun off from United Biomedical Inc Asia (聯亞生技), yesterday announced plans to invest about NT$1 billion (US$33.25 million) to build a factory in Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park (新竹生物醫學園區).
Construction of the factory is expected to be completed at the end of next year, Wang Chang-yi (王長怡), who chairs both companies, told a press conference in Taipei.
The factory will have reactors of 4,000 to 8,000 liters, she said.
United BioPharma aims to launch at least one new drug in Taiwan and hopes to earn revenue of NT$20 billion and profit of NT$10 billion in 10 years through the launch of five new drugs, she said.
“We hope to swing to the black in three to five years,” she said.
United BioPharma has paid-in capital of NT$1.17 billion after Formosa Biomedical Technology Co (台塑生醫), part of Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) invested NT$800 million last quarter to secure a 20 percent stake.
Chang Gung Medical Foundation (長庚醫療), one of FPG’s nonprofit organizations and its investment arm, owns a 5 percent stake, while United Biomedical holds the remaining 75 percent of shares, United BioPharma said.
“By cooperating with Formosa Plastics Group, we can enjoy Chang Gung’s resources for conducting clinical trials,” Wang said.
The company’s new drug to treat HIV/AIDS is under phase two clinical trials in Taiwan, and another drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease has completed phase one trials, Wang said.
Wang said United Biomedical Asia has plans to spin off four other divisions, which make animal vaccines, medical devices and other medical products, within the next three years.
“We will turn our divisions into companies when we find other partners to invest, and when these divisions’ products are mature enough to enter the market,” she said.
Sandy Wang (王瑞瑜), vice chairperson of United BioPharma and chairperson of Formosa Biomedical Technology, said FPG and United Biomedical Asia will cooperate in other areas as well, including producing chemical drugs and diagnostic reagents.
United BioPharma plans to debut on the Emerging Stock Market in November, before shifting to trade its shares on the Taiwan Stock Exchange or the GRETAI Securities Market in October to November next year, it said.
United Biomedical Inc Asia is 60 percent held by the US-based United Biomedical Inc, with the other 40 percent shares owned by the National Development Fund (NDF), state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp (台糖) and government-affiliated Yao Hua Glass Co (耀華玻璃).
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the