The Taiwan Bio Industry Organization (Taiwan BIO) together with the Global Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) jointly announced that BIO Asia–Taiwan 2021 will be held as scheduled from July 21 to 25, with pre-opening access beginning July 19. Such access will allow participants more time to learn about participating companies and for arranging matchmaking meetings. With the theme of this year’s conference ‘A Brave New Era for Biotechnology’, the industry is confidently looking forward to new breakthroughs and opportunities as the world emerges from the grip of the pandemic. Conference topics include Combating the Pandemic, Advanced Therapies, Precision Medicine, Digital Health,and Investment & Collaboration. A stellar lineup of international speakers has been confirmed, including 2020 Nobel Laureate Michael Houghton, renowned inventor and entrepreneur MIT’s Robert Langer, and well as many others.
This year’s BIO Asia–Taiwan will again include forums and exhibitions, BIO’s One-on-one Partnering™ platform accessible 24 hours a day during the conference, and a full schedule of company presentations. Nearly 100 local and foreign companies, including from Europe, the United States, Philippines and Australia, will participate in the company presentation program. The exhibition will be showcasing more than 550companies and institutes. BIO Asia–Taiwan 2021 will again provide ample opportunities for business meetings, networking and collaboration, as important as ever as we approach the post-pandemic era.
Greater than ever participation and organization from international industry leaders
Johnsee Lee, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of BIO Asia–Taiwan 2021 reflected on the critical role the biomedical industry plays during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Countries the world over called on their biotechnology sectors to provide testing, diagnostics, vaccines, prevention and control products, all to combat the pandemic. Taiwan’s biotech sector also contributed. At the same time, Taiwan needs to do more, to continue to reach out to the global biotech community and seek partners to stake a place in the international value chain,” said Lee.
In order to expand international participation the conference also convened an International Committee, with members including Joseph Damond, BIO’s Executive Vice President International Affairs; Yoshiaki Tsukamoto, Executive Director, Japan Bioindustry Association (JBA);Albert Yu, Chairman of Hong Kong BIO (HKBIO); Christopher Ko, Chairman of Korea BIO; Damian O’Connell, CEO of Experimental Drug Research and Development (A*STAR), Singapore;SirasakTeparkum, Deputy CEO, Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELS); Murali P.M., Chairman, Jananom Private Limited, India; David Flores, President of BioCentury;and Andrew Wylegala, CEO, American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan (AmCham). Members of the International Committee have all confirmed their participation and promotion of BIO Asia–Taiwan to their respective networks.
As BIO Asia–Taiwan enters its third year, Johnsee Lee reflected on improvements to this year’s format. “For the sake of our international audience, we’re holding pre-event preview sessions for the first time this year to increase opportunities for online engagement with participating companies and exhibitors, and to assist in scheduling meetings through the BIO One-on-one Partnering™ platform. This platform will be accessible 24 hours a day for ease of use across time zones and regions,” he said.
This year, participation from international pharmaceutical companies is greater than ever; Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), Chugai, Cytiva, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Johnson and Johnson, Merck (MSD), Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, Takeda, and Rochewill all be participating as exhibitors or speakers at BIO Asia–Taiwan 2021.
Stellar lineup of international speakers to herald ‘A Brave New Era for Biotechnology’
Notable international speakers this year include Taiwan’s former Vice President Chen Chien-jen who will share his vision of the future of precision medicine. Also presenting will be MIT’s Robert Langer; known as the Edison of Medicine, inventor and entrepreneur, founder of vaccine company Moderna and more than 40 other bio-techcompanies. Langer’s presentation will be on technology commercialization and innovation. We’re pleased to announce that 2020 Nobel Laureate Michael Houghton will be sharing insight on virus discovery and treatment. And Graham Lewis, Vice President of IQVIA, the world’s largest medical information provider; and PwC’s Claire Love will share their insight on biomedical market and investment considerations.
Under the topic Combatting the Pandemic, we’ve invited Chunhuei Chi, director of the Center for Global Health at Oregon State University for a deep dive into global pandemic prevention; Asher Yeshaihu Salmon, Head of the Department of International Relations at the Israeli Ministry of Health, to showcase Israel’s pandemic prevention and vaccine delivery successes; and Dr. Li Bingying of National Taiwan University to summarize the current status of pandemic control and prevention in Taiwan.
Under finance and investment, we’re showcasing leaders in their field, including Hongbo Lu, venture capital partner of Vivo Capital; Sinclair Dunlop, founder of early-stage life science VC firm Epidarex Capital; Polaris Partners’ Darren Carroll; partner; Michael Brinkman, GM of investment bank Jefferies & Company;and Rick Tsai, partner of Axil Capital.
World-leading names in advanced therapies to present at BIO Asia–Taiwan 2021
Innovative therapies such as cytokines and cell and gene therapy are some of the world’s most exciting new medical breakthroughs. BIO Asia–Taiwan 2021 will showcase world-renowned speakers in the field of cytokines including winner of the 2020 Tang Prize, University of Oxford’s Professor Marc Feldmann; Charles Dinarello, Professor of the University of Colorado; and Professor Tadamitsu Kishimo to of Osaka University. In cell and gene therapy we have Didier Dargent, Head of International Markets for Cell & Gene Therapy at Novartis Oncology; and Jennifer Mao, VP, Clinical Operations, Greater China, IQVIA. We also look forward to sharing new insights on the state of Taiwan’s cell therapy contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) companies.
In digital health and related fields including biomedical AI and Big Data, we have Mark Effinggam, Deputy CEO, UK Biobank; Ann Aerts, Head of the Novartis Foundation;Olivier Delannoy, AstraZeneca Global Head of Digital – Cardiovascular Renal & Metabolic diseases;XinyingSu,Director of Translational Medicine Lead at Pfizer China; Laura Chu, Genentech; as well as many other opinion leaders and experts.
Johnsee Lee, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, expressed his excitement for the upcoming event. “We’re looking forward to BIO Asia–Taiwan 2021this July as a perfect opportunity to highlight Taiwan’s achievements and ambitions in pandemic prevention and control, and showcase the industry as a whole as it enters the post-pandemic era. We invite the world to see Taiwan and at the same time allow Taiwan the opportunity to enter overseas markets and to participate in global biotechnology development”, said Lee.
