Pharmaceuticals
Orphan drug status awarded
ASLAN Pharmaceuticals (亞獅康), a biotech company focused on the development of immunotherapies and targeted agents for Asia-prevalent tumor types, said the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has designated its pan-HER inhibitor varlitinib an orphan drug. The designation provides ASLAN with incentives, including faster regulatory approval for clinical trials in South Korea, as well as 10 years marketing exclusivity, the company said. The drug is being developed for the treatment of advanced biliary tract cancer.
TELECOMS
Gogolook launches new app
Gogolook Inc (走著瞧股份), the start-up that developed caller identification app Whoscall, yesterday launched a service with Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信). Whoscall Card offers businesses and freelancers a low-cost promotional tool by making their business details available to consumers, Gogolook said, adding that the service is available for landlines and mobile phones. Whoscall has accumulated about 150,000 enterprise accounts since 2015 and hopes to double that figure by collaborating with Chunghwa Telecom, Gogolook said. Users reported a 15 percent increase in call pickups, as well as a sevenfold rise in call-backs to missed calls, Gogolook said, adding that the fastest growth has been among small businesses such as hostels, beauty salons and restaurants.
EMPLOYMENT
Labor laws out of favor
A monthly survey published yesterday by Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) showed that the proportion of respondents who dislike the “one fixed day off, one flexible rest day” workweek policy far outstripped those who are in favor of it. Of the 19,199 valid responses from Cathay customers, 44 percent said that the new labor rules are harmful, and only 9.8 percent were in favor of the changes, while 46.2 percent of respondents said that they do not expect to see a difference. The survey also showed that while employment and salary outlooks have improved this month, the public is conservative on consumption.
TECHNOLOGY
VR boom predicted
Global shipments of virtual reality (VR) devices are to increase 88 percent to 15 million units this year, from last year’s 8 million units, as more applications and contents are made available, the Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK, 產業經濟與趨勢研究中心) said yesterday. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s (阿里巴巴) Taobao (淘寶) Web site is developing its VR store and consumers will be able to pay for goods using VR devices, IEK said. About 20 percent of global retailers are to introduce services, such as VR device payment system this year, IEK said. Among four major VR makers, HTC Corp (宏達電), which launched its first VR headset Vive last year, is the leader in developing VR ecosystems, IEK said.
BEVERAGE
Starbucks to hike prices
Taiwan’s top coffee chain operator, President Starbucks Coffee Corp (統一星巴克), said it would increase product prices by an average of 8 percent from tomorrow. The company attributed the price adjustment to increasing product and operational costs, saying that the price hike would be its first since 2011. The company, which operates 408 stores nationwide, is a joint venture between President Chain Store Corp (PCSC, 統一超商) and the Seattle-based coffee giant.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last