Lai vows to bolster Taiwan drug supply resilience with NT$24B plan

Taipei, March 5 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Thursday vowed to strengthen Taiwan's pharmaceutical resilience through a four-year plan that will allocate NT$24 billion (US$756.2 million) to measures including promoting domestic production of critical drugs.

Speaking at a meeting of the Presidential Office's Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee, Lai said Taiwan relies heavily on imported pharmaceuticals and medical devices, with "some items even subject to control by foreign hostile forces."

The phrase was one Lai used to describe China during a high-level national security meeting in March last year, when he said China already met the definition of a "foreign hostile force" under Taiwan's Anti-Infiltration Act.

Deputy Health Minister Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) further noted in her presentation that about 80 percent of the world's active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) -- the components in drugs that produce their intended effects -- currently come from China and India.

Lai said Taiwan's pharmaceutical supply stability also faces "major challenges" due to logistical considerations and market-size calculations by major international drugmakers.

In response, Lai said he had instructed government agencies to draw up a four-year national pharmaceutical resilience preparedness plan, backed by a proposed NT$24 billion budget.

Through policy subsidies and market incentives, Lai said the government aims to boost domestic production of APIs and strengthen Taiwan's capacity to develop drugs.

Such efforts will help to ensure a resilient supply of critical medicines, "especially in emergencies, so Taiwan can maintain the most basic medical capacity," he said.

However, the president did not specify funding sources in his remarks, while the central government's 2026 general budget proposal has yet to clear the opposition-controlled Legislature.

One of the key goals of the preparedness plan outlined by Lai is to promote domestic production of at least 50 critical drugs.

Lin said the Ministry of Health and Welfare will draw up a list of critical drugs based on criteria such as whether they are listed as essential medicines by the World Health Organization or Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration.

The list will include medicinal alcohol, saline, glucose infusions, insulin, Japanese encephalitis vaccines (JEV), commonly used antibiotics, cancer drugs and immunomodulators, she said.

According to Lin, a government committee will be formed to help Taiwan's 31 domestic API manufacturers and 143 drugmakers raise the share of locally made APIs and increase their use in finished drug products.