IDB eyes pharmaceuticals

Aug 2005

The Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) is working to form a pharmaceutical export strategic alliance as part of its efforts to help local manufacturers make inroads into overseas markets, bureau officials said yesterday. Ten pharmaceutical companies have expressed a willingness to join the alliance, which will be aimed at seeking generic drug export and overseas OEM orders, as well as at trying to gain market share in the US and Japan for Taiwan drug makers. According to the IDB, the output of the pharmaceutical industries in Europe, Japan and the US accounts for more than 80 percent of the global total. As Japan enacted a new law in April regulating the separation of the production and sale of pharmaceuticals and as the US government has been encouraging the use of generic drugs, now is the perfect time for Taiwanese pharmaceutical companies to make inroads into these markets, the officials said. The bureau has plans to form three strategic alliances to push for the export of 10 to 15 kinds of generic drugs. It's expected that in five years, Taiwan's pharmaceutical exports will increase NT$10 billion (US$3.1 billion) , posting an annual growth rate of over 20 percent.