The nation’s biomedical companies’ new drugs and medical devices can play an important role in the global market as multinational companies shift their focus to retail routes and legal processes, BioTaiwan Committee (BTC) member Jang Yue-teh (張有德) told reporters yesterday.
There have been many mergers and acquisitions between multinational biomedical companies in recent years, because they want to increase their power in retail routes and minimize costs, said Jang, who is also president and CEO of medical device maker Medeon Biodesign Inc (益安生醫).
These multinational companies gradually reduce their research and development costs and outsource manufacturing processes, while increasing their strength in negotiating drug prices with authorities and in acquiring product approval with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Jang said.
“These global companies are now more inclined to acquire new products from smaller companies to minimize the risk of developing products,” Jang said, adding that many Taiwanese firms can provide what these multinationals need.
However, local companies still need to improve their ties with global companies to be able to seize opportunities, Jang said.
Comparing the medical industries in Taiwan and China, Jang said that with a large market in China, biomedical companies there put more emphasis on replacing existing medical products with cheaper ones made locally, as the priority is to give as many citizens as possible access to medical services.
Although Taiwanese companies do not have a large domestic market, they have a better technology base and can create innovative products, he said.
Jang said the ecosystem for local drug makers has evolved significantly in recent years, while the system for local medical device makers is relatively weak.
“A newly established drug company can find all the help it needs in Taiwan, while a medical device maker cannot,” Jang said.
There are also fewer professionals with expertise in medical devices who return to Taiwan from overseas compared with professionals in new drugs, he said.
Many medical devices were invented by physicians, but local laws still do not offer a mechanism for medical device companies to work with them, Jang added.
In comparison with new drug development, the process for creating a new medical device carries lower risk, takes a shorter time and requires less capital, but the market value for a medical device is lower, Jang said.
Last year, the output of the nation’s medical device makers was NT$1.16 billion (US$38.29 million), up 6.5 percent from the previous year, according to Ministry of Economic Affairs data. Medical device firms’ output accounted for 43 percent of the total output for the nation’s biomedical industry last year, while output for drug companies was 30 percent, the data showed.
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