Taiwania Capital: It's time for Taiwan to "turn crisis into opportunity"

In recent weeks, Taiwan have garnered widespread praise for its measures to combat the novel coronavirus -- from foreign envoys, government officials, to high-profile figures like Barbra Streisand and Bill Gates. With big data analytics and information technology, the island nation manages to keep the number of infections low without imposing lockdown on its cities and towns.

Jerome Shen, General Partner & Head of Life Science Investments at Taiwania, believes it’s now the time for Taiwan to prepare for the economic recovery after the health crisis comes under control. “Taiwan should turn crisis into opportunity to stay ahead in the biotech industry in post-pandemic times,” he said.

Founded in 2017, Taiwania is an early stage VC firm launched by the National Development Fund of Taiwan and private enterprises. It closed the second fund in 2018 with NTD$ 5.9 billion (US$ 200M) to invest in pharmaceutical product research and development, gene/cell therapy and medical technology, according to the firm’s site.

Taiwania's recent portfolio companies include Regenacy Pharmaceuticals, a US-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing breakthrough treatments for diabetic and other peripheral neuropathies, and Point Robotics, a Taiwan-based medtech company developing a robot-assisted system for minimally invasive spine surgery.

As the coronavirus shakes the global economy, companies across various industries are likely to experience a precipitous drop in revenue. But for the biotech industry in particular, Mr. Shen pointed out that the economic fallout can be even more immense as the R&D cost in this industry tends to be higher.

With medical resources largely allocated to fight against Covid-19, clinical trials for other treatments can be suspended or terminated; this temporary measure may lead to devastating outcome for patients around the world.

Lauded globally for their ability to contain the spread of the virus, Mr. Shen encourages Taiwanese medical institutions to evaluate their capabilities and what they can offer to the global community so as to attract multinational pharmaceutical giants to set up a base for clinical trials in Taiwan. He believes this should take Taiwan’s research capacity to the next level.

According to Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center, three local health institutions were cleared to participate in the clinical trials of the antiviral drug Remdesivir for the treatment of Covid-19 patients, while official statistics show that at least 128 hospitals and medical institutions in Taiwan are eligible to perform these trials.

〔Original :Meet Startup @ TW〕
https://meet.bnext.com.tw/intl/articles/view/46309