New Southbound Policy Portal

The 2024 BIO Asia-Taiwan exhibition got underway July 26 in Taipei City, with around 900 flagship companies from 19 countries showcasing their latest offerings at 2,200 booths for biomedical industry professionals hailing from around the world.

Themed “Global View with Asian Touch,” this year’s exhibition is jointly organized by Washington D.C.-headquartered Biotechnology Innovation Organization and Taipei-based Taiwan Bio Industry Organization. While the opening ceremony was delayed by two days due to Typhoon Gaemi, the innovation and technology forum, investment summit and regional cooperation forum were held on schedule July 24-25 and attracted participants from around 50 countries, the organizer said.

Some of the highlights so far include a speech in the innovation and technology forum by Zhang Feng, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and winner of the 2016 Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science; and the participation of 30 plus businesses and industry associations from Australia, Belgium, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand in the regional cooperation forum.

Equally impressive was the Demo Day event on opening day that showed how Taiwan integrated its biotechnology and ICT prowess to innovate and the country’s commitment to expanding its reach to the global medical industry supply chain, according to the National Science and Technology Council.

The NSTC said examples in this regard include various diagnostic precision systems and tools to provide improved treatment regimens for patients; and one of only a few advanced 3D endoscope imaging systems in the world, built on an algorithm developed by a local medical team. Both innovations are part of the NSTC-supported Taiwan Smart Healthcare Alliance initiative, the council added. (SFC-E)