(Taiwan) Int'l business deal flow the focus of Taiwan-America Biotech Association forum

(David Silver, BiotechEast)

26 October, 2005
Bio-business leaders from Taiwan and the United States gathered in San Diego on Friday 21 October for the 2005 Taiwan-USA Biotech Strategic Partnership Forum, where the focus of the event was on developing international business deals between Taiwan and US companies.

Dr. Lin Rong-hwa, president of Taiwan's AbGenomics Corporation, speaking at the 2005 Taiwan-USA Biotech Strategic Partnership Forum in San Diego, 21 October, 2005.

Organized by the Taiwan-America Biotech Association (TABA), a San Diego-based association of ex-pat Taiwanese bio-scientists, the forum featured speakers from Taiwan and the US in topic areas such as the latest technology platforms in biopharmaceuticals, medical devices and medical cosmetics; and successful business models and experiences in strategic collaboration.

The conference kicked off with a keynote speech by the CEO of Taiwan-based AbGenomics, Dr. Lin Rong-Hwa. AbGenomics is the first Taiwanese company to successfully license its in-house therapeutics drug candidates to a major international pharmaceutical company, German-based Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, announced in June, 2005. Lin shared his insights, strategies and his company's own experience in building a successful R&D program and attracting global players for licensing partnerships.

Following the keynote speech were sessions highlighting new breakthroughs in bio-pharmaceuticals and medical diagnostics. The forum ended with a discussion on successful business deal flows, followed by a particularly active Q&A session.

TABA secretary and board member, Dr. Helen Chen, spoke of the difference between this event and other conferences TABA had organized previously.

"This is the first TABA conference that transitions away from academic knowledge exchange to focus on biotech business deal flows across the Pacific. We felt that there are many existing international conferences that can fulfill the role of academic knowledge exchange. TABA's niche would be to bridge the gap between science and business. With our resources in Southern California and contacts in Taiwan, we hope to setup an efficient platform for global biotech sectors to execute business deals and foster collaborations between the US and Taiwan biotech companies," she said.

David Liu (left), director of Greater China Marketing and Strategy, together with Dr. Michael Wu, TABA Program Chair, at the 2005 Taiwan-USA Biotech Strategic Partnership Forum.

All in all, over 70 biotech executives from Taiwan and Southern California attended the forum. The event was sponsored by Taiwan's National Science Council, with corporate sponsors including several pharmaceutical, biotech and law firms from the US and Taiwan.

TABA was founded in 2003 by a group of Taiwanese-American professionals residing and working in Southern California, to promote the collaboration of biotechnology research and development in Taiwan and USA, and to advance the prospect and development of biotech industries across the Pacific in both nations. Currently, the association has 300 members from both Taiwan and the USA representing academia, industry, hospitals and government institutions.