|
Current Status and Policy for Biotechnology Development in Taiwan In 2008 Taiwan's biotech industry had total sales of NT$201 billion, an increase of only 5% over 2007. Medical devices sales were NT$79 billion, the largest portion of total sales. Emerging biotech companies showed the fastest growth, growing at a rate of 10%. Pharmaceutical production showed a growth rate of only 1%. The industry is made up of 1,184 firms. Exports totaled NT$67.7 billion while imports totaled NT$143.5 billion. Domestic biotech demand reached NT$276.8 billion. Although investment in Taiwan's biotech industry reaches its historical high of NT$27 billion in 2007 after promulgation of the Act for the Development of Biotech and New Pharmaceuticals Industry, the investment drops slightly to NT$25 billion in 2008 owing to banks tightened lending policies and companies conservative investment strategies triggered by global financial crisis. By February, 2009 the National Development Fund, Executive Yuan had approved investment in 36 domestic and overseas biotech investment projects, encompassing a total of NT$13.061 billion in approved investment. Currently there are totally 39 biotech companies that are either publicly listed or traded over-the-counter in Taiwan, including 11 publicly listed companies and 28 over-the-counter (OTC) companies, and total 2008 sales of these biotech firms came in at NT$44.098 billion, a 10% increase over 2007's NT$40.003 billion. There are also 19 companies registered ready for OTC stock market, these firms had combined total sales of NT$8.509 billion.
*units: NT billion |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||