TAIPEI, TAIWAN – Media OutReach – 10 April 2019 – The global Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) together with the Taiwan Bio Industry Organization (Taiwan BIO) announced recently that from July 24th to 28th, a global Asian biotechnology conference–BIO Asia-Taiwan 2019–will be held in Taipei. This event, the result of a partnership between these two organizations and held in Taiwan for the first time, is expected to attract more than 1,500 people from 25 countries. The exhibition meanwhile will increase in size from its previous rendition as part of the annual ‘BioTaiwan’ event, to become what is expected to be the largest biotech exhibition in Asia.
From left: William Foreman, President, AmCham Taipei
Liang-Gee Chen, Minister, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Johnsee Lee, Chairman, BIO Asia-Taiwan Organizing Committee
Bor Fuei Huang, Secretary General , Taiwan Bio Industry Organization at the announcement ceremony of BIO Asia-Taiwan 2019
The announcement ceremony of BIO Asia-Taiwan 2019 was hosted by the Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Johnsee Lee. Taiwan’s Minister of Science and Technology Liang-gee Chen said in his remarks that BIO Asia being held in Taiwan is a significant milestone and will be a positive contribution to the development of Taiwan’s biomedical industry going forward. Chen expressed his wishes that through the cooperation with BIO that there will be increased engagement and interaction between Taiwan and the global biotechnology community.
Jim Greenwood, President and CEO of BIO, the world’s largest biotech association, in a videotaped message expressed his affirmation of Taiwan and his expectations for this year’s event. “Taiwan is already a global powerhouse in technology, IT and computing systems. As biotech evolves, we are marrying new breakthroughs like artificial intelligence with Big Data derived from the human genome. That’s why Taiwan is uniquely situated to play an integral role in the future of our industry. Taiwan BIO’s annual conference is already an established and important event for the local biotech community. Now we believe BIO Asia-Taiwan will become a premier, must-attend conference for entire Asia-Pacific region,” said Greenwood.
With the theme of this year’s event being “Biotech as the Next Growth Engine for Asia”, Johnsee Lee remarked that as many innovative biomedical advances in the future will be closely integrated with digital technologies, and with the ICT industry being a unique advantage of Taiwan, this year’s BIO Asia-Taiwan conference will showcase Taiwan’s digital advantage in this sector. Applications such as AI, smart hospital and medical devices, precision medicine, etc., will be showcased as Taiwan takes the opportunity to encourage its electronics industry leaders to invest resources in biotech. Lee also thanked the government for its strong support in facilitating the holding of such a significant international conference.
Thanks to the support of BIO, participants in this year’s conference will be utilizing BIO’s renowned one-to-one business partnering platform, creating business opportunities for all participants. BIO also intends to use its vast network of industry contacts to encourage international and regional delegations to participate in the occasion. It is estimated that the numbers of international exhibitors and delegates will increase significantly this year. With the inclusion of a special program of medical seminars and training courses, BIO Asia-Taiwan will also be targeting medical professionals and members of biotechnology and medical associations. In addition, with the increasing convergence of industry sectors, both Taiwan and global electronics, financial and investment firms will be invited to discover opportunities at BIO Asia-Taiwan.
The Conference & Forum program will feature pertinent business-related topics such as cross-border investment, mergers and acquisitions, regional cooperation models. Biomedical topics covered will include cancer immunotherapy, cell and gene therapy, CAR-T, and regenerative medicine. The latest game changing technologies featured will include artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data, the Internet of Things, genetic sequencing, gene editing, liquid biopsies, etc. International experts will be invited to give presentations on such exciting topics and participate in these forums.
At the exhibition, we expect at least 1,700 booths featuring 600 exhibitors. In addition to expanding its scale, the event this year will feature special exhibition zones: International & Asia-Pacific Biotech; Smart Medical Devices; Precision Medicine; Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine; and Innovation & Enterprise. The exhibition venue will also feature a presentation theater area, a business matchmaking venue, and a customized tour guide service.
“Biotech is very important to the American Chamber of Commerce, Taipei, which has more than 500 member companies,” remarked William Foreman, President of AmCham, Taipei. “There’s enormous potential in Taiwan for this industry, and it’s important to host events such as BIO Asia-Taiwan that attract leaders in the industry and give them a platform to exchange ideas. I applaud BIO and Taiwan BIO for working so hard to create such an event,” added Foreman in his remarks at the press conference.
