Taiwan biomanufacturing company sets sights on becoming 'Biotech TSMC'

Taipei, Feb. 2 (CNA) Taiwan Bio-Manufacturing Corp. (TBMC), a government-initiated biotech company, staged its first public event in Taipei Friday during which it outlined its business model as being similar to that of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and highlighted its strategic alliance with a U.S. technology-focused biomanufacturing company.

The company, co-established by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and the Development Center for Biotechnology (DCB) in 2023, on Friday announced a strategic alliance with National Resilience, Inc. from the U.S., which it said will give it access to the latter's expertise in biologics, vaccines, nucleic acids, cell therapy and gene therapy.

The business was started following the government's realization during COVID-19 that Taiwan needed to have its own pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities, Minister of National Development Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said at a press event.

"It is both a health issue and a national security issue," he stressed.

According to Michel Chu (瞿志豪), chairman and acting CEO of TBMC, the pandemic put Taiwan's inability to mass produce mRNA vaccines under the spotlight.

"Then-Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) and then-Vice Premier Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) initiated a plan to start a company that usually specializes in the contract manufactures of biologics, but can also switch and manufacture vaccines during a pandemic," Chu said in a video introducing the company that was played at the press conference.

Chu also told the audience that the company plans to make the most of Taiwan's advantages -- abundant biotech talent and an outstanding smart manufacturing industry -- to catapult the country into becoming a global market for contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs).

CDMOs are companies that provide pharmaceutical companies with outsourcing options for drug development and manufacturing to lower risks and capital investment in advanced manufacturing processes.

TBMC is thus not only similar to TSMC in name but also in its strategy of specializing in advanced contract manufacturing, according to Chu.

The establishment of TBMC is based on the "successful experience" of TSMC, the chairman revealed.

TBMC, like TSMC in 1986, was part-funded by the government, first employed talent from the ITRI (and also DCB in the case of TBMC), and used foreign technologies and innovations "to secure the trust of future clients," Chu pointed out.

TSMC's foreign partner back then was Philips -- which transferred some of its semiconductor patents to TSMC -- while TBMC is now working with National Resilience.

"There are very few CDMOs in the world that out-license," Chu said. "Many companies around the world would love for TSMC to authorize its advanced manufacturing technologies to them, but TSMC would definitely not be willing to do so."

The reason why TBMC was able to successfully strike a deal with National Resilience was not just because of its special Taiwan connection -- Resilience Vice Chairman Patrick Yang is Taiwanese American -- but also because Taiwan has the exceptional automated and smart manufacturing capabilities that large molecule drugs increasingly require, Chu said.

Large molecule drugs, also known as biologics, are made from living organisms, while small molecule drugs, which make up most of the pharmaceutical drugs on the current market, are synthesized chemically.

Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) added that Taiwan has an edge when comes to talent, its medical system, and protection of intellectual property, but "as the pharmaceutical industry is a field where big companies gain the most by remaining large, international collaboration is crucial for Taiwan's biotech industry."

Wang also noted that CDMO shows great potential for biologics in Asia.

TBMC has established a lab in the Taipei Bioinnovation Park and that it aims to have a Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) grade factory in the Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park within two years, she said.

"We're hoping TBMC will become another 'sacred mountain that protects the nation' [as TSMC is referred to among Taiwanese people] in the decades to come," the minister said.