Sat, Apr 14, 2001 page17

• Drugmaker tackles R&D

  PHARMACEUTICALS In an effort to develop new drugs, Tainan-based ScinoPharm Taiwan Ltd plans to establish a subsidiary exclusively dedicated to research

  • By Dan Nystedt / STAFF REPORTER
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  ScinoPharm Taiwan Ltd (台灣神隆), a producer of made-to-order pharmaceutical ingredients, said yesterday that plans to develop a subsidiary company focused on pure biotechnology research and development are already moving forward.

  "Our goal from there is to develop new drugs," Jo Shen (馬海怡), president of ScinoPharm, told the Taipei Times.

  "[The new subsidiary] is specifically designed to allow us to take advantage of new drug discovery capabilities and then focus on using biotechnology to design new manufacturing processes ... and also to develop platform technologies," Shen said.

  

  Lab technicians test drug samples in a clean room yesterday at ScinoPharm Taiwan Ltd, a producer of made-to-order pharmaceutical ingredients at the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park in southern Taiwan.

  PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

  Housed within ScinoPharm's existing facilities, the subsidiary is called ScinoPharm Biotech Ltd. It will focus on four different areas of biotechnology research: genomic research, recombinant proteins and protein drug development, botanical drugs (the discovery of the bioactive ingredients in herbs and plants for medicinal purposes) and monoclonal antibody research (harnessing antibodies for specific use in vaccines and drugs).

  The human body creates "antibodies" to defend itself when invaded by foreign bodies, such as viruses. Since the body cannot predict what type of invaders may attack, it creates a wide range of antibodies, and each antibody might only recognize a part of the invader. For that reason, many different kinds of antibodies are sent into battle at one time.

  Because an antibody's attack points are not specific, some antibodies can cause harm when used during medical treatment. ScinoPharm plans to work on developing more antibodies to attack specific invaders, for example a Hepatitis B virus or the AIDs virus.

  The new biotech company provides an answer to some critics who have said the government should not offer biotech industry tax breaks and other incentives to manufacturing ventures (such as ScinoPharm) due to their lack of "added value and low place on the food chain," Shen said.

  "Taiwan can carry out manufacturing and as well as research," she said. "A lot of people look down on manufacturing, which I would say depends on the business. If you understand manufacturing in the pharmaceutical business, it is not something that is easy or cheap, but it can be very profitable."

  Located within the ScinoPharm complex in the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park (台南科學園區), the firm focuses on the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The most expensive part of a drug, the active ingredients, are the actual medicine meant to repair or help the body.

  A typical drug tablet has 1 percent active ingredients, with other ingredients making up the other 99 percent. Extra ingredients include substances which aid in the release of the medicine, and preservatives. ScinoPharm's has opened an administration building, an R&D center and a warehouse in the past 14 months. The firm has also completed work on three of nine manufacturing lines.

  The manufacturing capacity of the three lines is only 5 percent of the new firm's eventual total capacity. Plant number four will be ready in May, and every two or three months another plant will come on line. ScinoPharm's nine lines will sit in seven manufacturing areas.

  By 2004, the company hopes to be listed on a US and a Taiwan stock exchange.

  "Some people say, `wow, you've already built your plants but you're not making any sales.'" Shen said. But the three completed lines have been running at full capacity, day and night, in order to make samples for prospective customers.

  The samples do not come cheap. The pricing ranges from US$100,000 to US$500,000 for one kilogram of ScinoPharm's product.

  ScinoPharm began construction in the Tainan Science Park in 1999.

  "When we arrived, this was just a sugarcane field," Shen said.
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