1/3 Taiwan Life Sciences Biweekly Newsletter
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| Taiwan Life Sciences Biweekly |
| 1. Wong Chi-Huey and team's broad spectrum COVID-19 vaccine to undergo clinical trials in the United States 28 December, 2022 Wong Chi-Huey, the former president of Taiwan's leading research institute Academia Sinica, together with researchers from the institute's Genome Research Center, announced that their jointly developed broad spectrum COVID-19 vaccine and mRNA vaccine technology which was transferred to Taiwan's Rock BioMedical for further development is expected to soon begin clinical trials in the United States with further clinical trials to be carried out in Taiwan. Wong said that the vaccine was 100 percent developed in Taiwan, with the principle of broad spectrum coming from the concept that viruses must use the human body's glycosylation mechanism to survive, with carbohydrate coating the virus so as to evade the body's immune system. The effectiveness of the broad-spectrum vaccine has been confirmed through mouse studies. Wong said that if the concept is confirmed through human trials, almost all viruses such as HIV and Ebola can adopt the same strategy to develop broad-spectrum vaccines and antibodies. More... (in Chinese) |
| 2. TTY Biopharm's Lipo-AB for the treatment of fungal infections to be sold in the US 28 December, 2022 TTY Biopharm (TW: 4105), announced last week that out of a series of generic drugs developed by the company, the first liposome injection Lipo-AB for the treatment of fungal infections will be officially sold to the United States starting from January. With the subsequent export of other generic drugs overseas, it is expected that TTY Biopharm's operation revenue will double in the next five years. More... (in Chinese) |
| 3. Mycenax Biotech's ophthalmic drug to be launched in Japan 28 December, 2022 Taiwan's Mycenax Biotech (TW: 4726) and South Korean ophthalmic drug manufacturer SCD announced that they would apply for a drug license with PMDA in Japan in the first half of 2023 for their macular degeneration injection biosimilar to Eylea. Mycenax Biotech is the drug raw material supplier for this drug. More... (in Chinese) |
| 4. Taiwan and Vietnam co-host International Regenerative Medicine Conference on Orthopedics Therapeutics in Ho Chi Minh City 26 December, 2022 The International Regenerative Medicine Conference on Orthopedics Therapeutics was recently held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The event was organized by a number of medical entities from both Taiwan and Vietnam, including the Taiwan-Vietnam Medical Biotech Association; the regenerative medicine company Gene & Stem Biomedical; Van Hanh General Hospital, the largest private hospital in Ho Chi Minh City; Nguyen Tat Thanh University (NTTU) of Vietnam, and Taiwan's Show Chwan Medical Group. Many of the most well-known orthopedic and regenerative medicine authorities from Taiwan and Vietnam were invited to this gathering to discuss new technologies and breakthroughs in the application of regenerative medicine technology for the treatment of orthopedic diseases. More... |
| 5. Adimmune, TTY Biopharm flu vaccine shipments increase 26 December, 2022 The flu epidemic in Asia is serious, and reports show that the situation in mainland China is even more grave. Industry insiders suggest that shipments of flu vaccines supplied by Adimmune (TW: 4142) and TTY Biopharm (TW: 4105) have grown, with even more shipping anticipated. Looking forward to 2023, influenza vaccines for young children imported from Australia by TTY Biopharm have a chance to be officially certified in the first quarter; high-end vaccines also have the opportunity to join the flu vaccine market later in the year. According to the data from Nature in the middle of 2022, this winter may experience the double hit of both COVID-19 and influenza viruses. Influenza vaccination can increase protection by 36 percent, and the severe disease rate can be reduced by 89 percent. The CDC of the Ministry of Health and Welfare estimates that the number of influenza infections in Taiwan this season will be around 4 million. More... (in Chinese) |
| 6. National Cheng Kung University holds master forum on carbohydrate-based solutions 23 December, 2022 During a forum held at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) last week, top scientists and business representatives presented their work on carbohydrate-based solutions. The event's speakers include former Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey, Moderna Genomics General Manager and Chief Scientific Officer Eric Huang, and Yuen Foong Yu Academy President Ho Shou-chuan. Wong's and Huang's keynote speeches focused on carbohydrate chemistry as the foundation of mRNA technology and vaccine development, while Ho talked about reinvigorating the carbohydrate economy by having carbohydrates replace fossil fuel as an energy source. More... |
| 7. Foresee Pharmaceuticals' new drug for allergic asthma completes Phase II clinical proof of concept trial 22 December, 2022 Foresee Pharmaceuticals (TW: 6576), announced that its new drug MMP-12 inhibitor FP-025 had completed a Phase II clinical proof of concept trial for the treatment of allergic asthma, with the main results of the trial to be announced in March this year. The proof of concept trial involved patients with moderate asthma and high expression of eosinophils. The main efficacy index of the trial was to evaluate the curative effect of FP-025 and placebo on late asthmatic response. The interim analysis of the trial in November last year showed that FP-025 was safe and well tolerated, and the main efficacy indicators showed a positive improvement trend compared with the control group. It is expected that the authorization negotiation will start after the main analysis results of the trial are announced in March. More... (in Chinese) |
| 8. Taiwan calls on BioNTech to cut out China as middleman 22 December, 2022 The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Thursday (Dec. 22) called on Germany's BioNTech (BNT) to open a branch office in Taiwan instead of using China's Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical as an intermediary, or depending on the charity of billionaires to purchase the vaccine for Taiwan. More... |
| 9. Oneness and Microbio signed an agreement with Cho Pharma to jointly develop glycosylation-based nucleic acid delivery technology 21 December, 2022 Small nucleic acid medicines (eg. siRNA) have become the focus of global new drug development, and drug delivery technology is the key to the development of nucleic acid medicines. At present, the only successful technology is a natural glycan molecule called N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) that is capable of delivering the medicine to the liver effectively. GalNAc proves that glycan molecules can be used as a key carrier for nucleic acid delivery. In addition to the liver, delivery technologies to other organs are urgently needed. More... |
| 10. Minimally invasive orthopedic surgery has a promising future with strong support of Taiwanese industries 21 December, 2022 "BIO+ICT" is a new medical feature in Taiwan, which has the opportunity to turn Taiwan's biotechnology and medical industry around and create another pillar to bolster Taiwan's economy. Taiwan's medical devices industry has also recently received good news, as the world's first "Multi-Vertebrae Real-Time Positioning Surgery Aid System" released by the Metal Industries Research and Development Center (MIRDC) and Taiwanese industry has won two international awards. The biotechnology and ICT industries work together to strengthen the ecological chain of Taiwan's minimally invasive spinal surgery assistance system to compete in the international market. More... |
| 11. Exciting Medtech at the Healthcare+ Expo Taiwan 21 December, 2022 Medgadget was recently invited to Taiwan to cover the 2022 Healthcare+ Expo in Taipei. As is the case for most trade shows, the exhibit hall comprised a large portion of the expo. Consisting of over 2000 exhibitors in two massive halls, the main hall showcased the best of Taiwan's healthcare industry. Here are some notable trends we observed while roaming the aisles. More... |
| 12. REGiMMUNE touts 'compelling' midstage data in stem call transplant patients, readies Phase 3 20 December, 2022 REGiMMUNE掇 lead candidate to prevent graft-versus-host disease after stem cell transplants has passed its Phase 2 trial, setting the Taiwan-based biotech up for a late-stage test. The therapy, dubbed RGI-2001, is designed to activate regulatory T cells through a novel mechanism that the company claimed could also have applications for the treatment of other autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases. More... |
| 13. ASUS partners with GE to capture cloud-based AI medical imaging 20 December, 2022 In addition to launching the first smart health bracelet in Taiwan that combines ECG and pulse index, ASUS Cloud has also partnered with GE Healthcare to build Taiwan's first cloud-native medical imaging and AI service, helping to popularize medical imaging services in the clinical setting and in primary clinics. The partnership will help popularize medical imaging services in the clinical setting and in primary clinics. More... |
| 14. Avatar Medicine Redefining Personalized Medicine 20 December, 2022 An avatar is quickly proving to be more than just a VR novelty. As our understanding of human biology improves, the concept of a "medical avatar" is entering the medical field in a big way - particularly for cancer patients. Sometimes referred to as "Personalized Medicine", the idea of developing physical avatars has been a subject of continuous innovation in medicine. Sampling human tumors and grafting them onto animal hosts allows physicians and researchers to test the efficacy of certain drugs while limiting the risk to human patients. For certain types of cancer, the practice is considered the standard treatment and helps develop safe and effective treatment plans. More... |
| 15. SURGLASSES received FDA 510(k) Clearance for Caduceus S 5 December, 2022 Press release Taiwan's SURGLASSES announced today that Caduceus S AR Spine Navigation System has received 510(k) clearance from the US FDA and is ready to launch its products into the US market in the first quarter of 2023. Caduceus S is an augmented reality spine navigation system that will require only few-shots of C-arm images to equip the surgeons with AR and pre-surgical planning with trajectories for spine surgery. More... |
| 16. ASUS and GE HealthCare to create Taiwan's first cloud-native medical imaging service 19 December, 2022 Computer and information technology company ASUS (TW: 2357) announced that it will cooperate with US-based GE Healthcare with its ASUS cloud services to form a strategic partnership with GE Medical's cloud medical image processing services, to create Taiwan DicomCloud. As Taiwan's first cloud-native medical imaging and AI service, it is expected that Taiwan DicomCloud will provide popular tools to enable medical institutions at all levels to diagnose and classify medical images in real time, and establish smart medical services. According to Data Bridge Market Research, medical imaging + AI will have a double-digit compound growth rate, with global output expected to reach US$265 billion in 2026. More... (in Chinese) |
| 17. OBI Pharma subsidiary AP Biosciences New Anti-cancer Drug Applies to begin Phase I Clinical Trial 19 December, 2022 AP Biosciences, a subsidiary of OBI Pharma (TW: 4174), announced that it had submitted a Phase I human clinical trial application to the US FDA for its self-developed antibody anti-cancer drug AP505, with the trial expected to be completed by the end of 2024. AP505, a new bispecific antibody anti-cancer drug developed by AP Biosciences, is a recombinant protein solid tumor cancer immunotherapy. AP Biosciences stated that the new drug prevents T-cell activation from being inhibited by the PD-L1 protein by blocking the interaction of PD-1/PD-L1, and inhibiting tumor angiogenesis to improve the effect of cancer treatment. More... (in Chinese) |
| 18. Wong: The future of BIO+ICT has been clear 19 December, 2022 The former president of the Academia Sinica and president of the Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry, Wong Chi-Huey, said that the future of products developed by BIO (biotechnology) + ICT (information and communication technology) has been clear, and what is needed now is landing and certification. More... |
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| Taiwan Bio Industry Organization | TEL: 886-27836028 | Email: biotaiwan@gmail.com |
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