Taiwan Liposome Company Ltd (TLC, 台灣微脂體) announced yesterday that it would introduce its ProFlow product to Japan in cooperation with Japanese pharmaceutical retailer Nihon Generic Co.
The pact will make ProFlow the first drug developed by Taiwanese to enter a leading international pharmaceutical manufacturing market under its private brand.
TLC said the Japanese market for Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) — a major ingredient of ProFlow — is worth NT$10 billion (US$329 million).
It is estimated that ProFlow will be able to obtain a 45 percent market share in Japan within five years of its launch.
“The Taiwanese market is rather small, so it is important for us to expand our overseas market,” said Keelung Hong (洪基隆), TLC founder and chairman, at a press conference yesterday.
Japan is the second-largest pharmaceutical market in the world after the US, and is rather difficult to enter, Hong said.
Since TLC lacks the resources to market its products overseas, the deal with Nihon Generic is a crucial step for TLC in entering the international market.
The company has plans to enter the South Korean and Chinese markets, which have market values of NT$500 million and NT$1.5 billion respectively, Hong said.
TLC’s announcement came as Bio Taiwan, Asia’s largest biotechnology trade fair, opened in Taipei, showcasing cutting-edge medical and healthcare products.
The trade fair is being held alongside a healthcare and biomedical cosmetology exposition.
The two shows will run through Sunday and feature nearly 430 manufacturers at 850 booths at Taipei World Trade Center’s Exhibition Hall 1. The two shows are expected to attract 80,000 visitors.
Many pharmaceutical and biotech companies are showcasing their latest biotechnology products.
PhytoHealth Corp (懷特新藥科技), a Taiwanese firm listed on the local stock market, is presenting PHNO12 (PG2), a complementary and alternative medicine for treating advanced-stage cancer patients.
SunTen Phytotech (順天生物科技), which will soon go public in Taipei, is showcasing its biotechnology innovations, which include traditional Chinese medicines.
In other developments, International Technical and Brains Services (ITBS), a Japanese biomedical manufacturer, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the show with a Taiwanese company, Medigreen Biotechnology Corp (鴻亞生物科技), to collaborate on production and marketing in both countries.
Showcasing its ginseng fruits, ITBS president Sei Tomio claimed the product could help “cure” AIDS, cancers and normalize body conditions.
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