TT: A number of experts and academics say Taiwan should focus more on R&D since in biotech, intellectual property creates more wealth -- and further, that the government should not favor manufacturing activities so heavily. As a manufacturing facility, how does ScinoPharm fit or not fit this statement?
Shen: Taiwan can do manufacturing and Taiwan can do research. A lot of people look down on manufacturing, which I would say "depends on the business." If you understand manufacturing in the pharmaceutical business, you would agree that it is not something that is easy or cheap. There are a lot of intellectual properties involved in manufacturing process technologies. The manufacturing business can be very profitable too.
But, you're right, though, we are looking upstream. In fact, in the next few weeks we should probably put out a news release, we are forming a biotech company.
Dr Hardy Chan will be heading that company, it is called ScinoPharm Biotech, Ltd. The new subsidiary is specifically designed to allow us to take advantage of the advancement in biotechnology and then focus on using biotechnology to develop new drugs, design new manufacturing processes for active ingredients.
So from there, our goal is to generate new drugs. Any product developed by the Biotech subsidiary will be produced by ScinoPharm Taiwan. In fact (ScinoPharm Biotech) is almost a fully owned subsidiary of ScinoPharm Taiwan, it is actually surrounded by ScinoPharm Taiwan.
We are building a facility right now for our ScinoPharm Biotech company on the third floor of the technology building. This is exactly the virtual company concept, they will only be hiring people in R&D and ScinoPharm Taiwan provides all the other infrastructure support, which include analytical services, finance, administration, human relations, training, safety and engineering.
TT: Are you building operations anywhere other than in Taiwan?
Shen: We actually have a small facility under construction outside of Shanghai. It's to subsidize our technology development in Taiwan. We have so many projects, so many requests from customers that we can't do it fast enough here even though we already have over 100 people in R&D, we still don't have enough. So we're building a research center outside of Shanghai, and we will have another 20-30 R&D people there plus a small plant.
TT: With years of experience in the US pharmaceutical industry, what advice would you offer other Taiwanese companies in entering the pharma or biotech industry in Taiwan?
Shen: Actually, I don't have a lot of advice for them because they know a lot that I don't know. I would just say it is important to have a strategy. You have to have a target, your strategy, and your field of expertise well defined. Then lay out a systematic plan to do it.
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