The government will work toward further developing translational medical research to improve the country’s medical services and its biomedical industry, Department of Health Deputy Minister Sung Yen-jen (宋晏仁) said yesterday.
Translational medicine is a branch of medical research that attempts to turn clinical research to patient care.
Under the theme “adding value to biomedical translational medicine,” the seventh APEC Biotechnology Conference, organized yesterday by the semi-official think tank Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), attracted more than 100 workers in the biotech industry and experts from seven countries to discuss the latest developments in the field.
As part of the department’s commitment to facilitate and expand the emerging biotech industry in the Asia-Pacific region, Sung said the government “is determined to create a more efficient and friendly environment to facilitate translational research.”
Aware of the risks of regional and global epidemics such as the 2003 SARS outbreak, countries like the US and Japan have been developing translational medicine by integrating basic research, pharmacology and clinical medicine, in a bid to establish genetic and pathological mechanisms.
Translational research has the potential to deliver practical benefits to patients while justifying the investment by the private and public sectors in biomedical research and thereby develop the biomedical industry, Sung said.
The implementation of translational research would involve not only a multilevel effort by the entire healthcare system, but also the complex issues of scientific, financial and practical constraints that need to be resolved, he said.
Citing the mission of his administration, Sung said that the first task was to attract, develop and nurture more translational and clinical investigators, while creating the infrastructure for such research.
He said the government would also promote technology transfer and medical product commercialization resulting from translational research.
The government will also finance research, Sung said.
He did not provide details on specific public projects that could result from transnational research.
Following the one-day conference, ITRI will hold a forum, BioBusiness Asia 2008, today and tomorrow to explore business opportunities in the biotech industry across the Asia-Pacific region. These two events comprise the major activities in Taiwan Biotechnology Month, which aims to build an international cooperative network for the biotechnology industry.
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