AstraZeneca, selected
as the world’s most innovative pharmaceutical company [1], today announced an additional investment of NTD 1 billion over
the next three years in Taiwan. This will enable nearly
3 fold increase in clinical R&D expenditure, support the rollout of ten new
medicines and create 140 high quality jobs in Taiwan by 2021. In addition to
the investment, AstraZeneca will sign a Letter of Intent with BioHub Taiwan
(National Biotechnology Research Park) and Program for Translational Innovation of
Biopharmaceutical Development-Technology Supporting Platform Axis (TSPA) to support the development of Taiwan’s biopharmaceutical industry.
The additional investment and the Letter of Intent demonstrate
AstraZeneca’s continuous commitment to patients and healthcare in Taiwan, which
first began 70 years ago when in 1948 AstraZeneca was one of the first
international companies to establish an office in Taipei.
AstraZeneca has been committed to
delivering science to patients in Taiwan since 1948
AstraZeneca’s bond with Taiwan started when it supported the
struggle against malaria with the introduction of a new anti-malaria medicine
Paludrine in the 1940’s. Since then, AstraZeneca has been equipping healthcare
professionals in Taiwan with life-changing medicines based on Nobel-prize
winning science.
Notable milestones include the introduction of the world’s first
amino amide-type local anesthetic, the world’s first successful beta-blocker,
and the world’s most successful hormonal medicine for breast cancer. Many of
these medicines are part of the WHO List of Essential Medicines, the most
effective and the safest medicines needed in a health system.
AstraZeneca works on scientific
solutions to Taiwan’s healthcare challenges
At present, AstraZeneca’s innovative medicines directly address
four out of Taiwan’s seven leading causes of death: cancer, cardiovascular
diseases, diabetes and respiratory disease.[2]
In addition, to help enhance healthcare for Taiwan’s ca. 2 million
asthma and ca. 2 million diabetes patients, AstraZeneca has initiated two
innovative healthcare delivery partnerships:
●
Healthy Lung: The Taiwan Society of Pulmonary and Critical Care
Medicine (TSPCCM) and AstraZeneca are supporting the launch of 500 Asthma Centres
of Excellence by end of 2018. These aim to enable early diagnosis, educate
patients about their disease and augment the capabilities of healthcare
professionals.
●
Early action in Diabetes: The Taiwanese health technology start-up Health2Sync
and AstraZeneca will support 500,000 diabetes patients with a smart disease
control platform with the aim of achieving controlled glucose levels (HbA1c
level <7%) for at least half of them by 2020.
“At AstraZeneca we are deeply committed to pushing the boundaries of
science to create life-changing medicine. Partnerships like Healthy Lung and
Early Action in Diabetes aim to increase patients’ quality of life, prevent
mortality and reduce healthcare expenditure.” said Joris Silon, Asia Area
President.
In the last five years AstraZeneca has invested over NTD 1.4 billion
in clinical R&D in Taiwan to help develop precision medicines that suits
our local genetic profile. In Taiwan, AstraZeneca ranks number 2 in
clinical research intensity overall and is the number one initiator of clinical
trials on lung cancer [3]—Taiwan’s
number one leading cause of death.[4]
AstraZeneca is proud to work with 37
world-class Taiwanese clinical research partners to develop new solutions to
patients in Taiwan and beyond.
Additional NTD 1 billion drives
biopharmaceutical innovation in Taiwan
At its 70th anniversary celebration today, AstraZeneca
is proud to announce NTD 1 billion in additional investment, which is the
biggest publicly declared commitment to biopharmaceutical healthcare in Taiwan.
It demonstrates AstraZeneca’s commitment to address the unmet needs in
non-communicable diseases, to enable high-value job creation and to advance
biopharmaceutical innovation in Taiwan.
With this investment AstraZeneca intensifies its efforts in
biopharmaceutical R&D in Taiwan, by increasing AstraZeneca Taiwan’s average
annual clinical research budget from NTD 230m today to over NTD 600m by
2021—nearly 3-fold increase. It also supports the rollout of ten new medicines
in the next three years, that each have the potential to transform the lives of
patients in Taiwan that suffer from diseases such as ovarian cancer, lung
cancer, severe asthma and diabetes. The investment will create 140 new
high-quality jobs and boosts employment in the biopharmaceutical industry.
AstraZeneca knows that scientific leadership doesn’t happen in
isolation. Recognizing Taiwan’s research biopharmaceutical research talent and
entrepreneurial ambition, AstraZeneca is honored to sign a Letter of Intent
with BioHub Taiwan, the incubator of the newly established National
Biotechnology Research Park in Taipei’s Nangang district and Program for Translational Innovation
of Biopharmaceutical Development-Technology Supporting Platform Axis (TSPA). Both organizations aspire to work together to develop Taiwanese
R&D talent, attract more investment to the biopharmaceutical industry and
increase Taiwan’s profile as a biomedical R&D hub.
Simon Manners, Company President, AstraZeneca Taiwan: ““AstraZeneca is proud to be one of the earliest companies present
in Taiwan as well as a cornerstone of healthcare in Taiwan for 70 years. Our new
investment and Letter of Intent with the BioHub & TPSA signify our
continuous commitment to patients in Taiwan and will support the development of
innovative solutions to healthcare challenges in Taiwan for the next 70 years
and beyond.”
Tonight, George Hollingbery, UK
Minister of State for Trade Policy, Wang Mei-Hua, Vice Minister, Ministry of
Economic Affairs and Chen Shih-Chung, Minister of Health and Welfare, will
attend the 70th Anniversary Celebration of the AstraZeneca in Taiwan.
George
Hollingbery, the UK Minister of State for Trade Policy said “Taiwan and the UK
share the common problem of increasingly ageing populations. We need to work together to tackle the challenges
that this brings about. It is vital that
we work alongside British companies like AstraZeneca to ensure that the drugs
we need to address these challenges can reach patients quickly.”
Wang Mei-Hua, Vice Minister, Ministry of
Economic Affairs said: “I would like to
thank AstraZeneca for its continuous investment and operation in Taiwan over
the past few decades to assist in the development of Taiwan's biotechnology and
pharmaceutical industry. I look forward to seeing AstraZeneca continue to
invest in R&D in Taiwan and become an important partner for the development
of biotechnology in Taiwan.”