Taiwan has an opportunity to become a global innovation hub for precision health by taking advantage of its strengths in biotechnology and information and communications technology, an academic said at an annual biotech meeting in Taipei yesterday.Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠), a professor at Scripps Research in California and a distinguished research fellow at Academia Sinica’s genomics research center, made the remarks during a speech at the opening of the three-day Bio Taiwan Committee meeting.Wong, a committee member and former president of Academia Sinica, said global medical spending is rising faster than economic growth as populations age.
Scripps Research professor Wong Chi-huey delivers a keynote speech at the opening of the three-day Bio Taiwan Committee meeting in Taipei yesterday.
Wong said global medical spending was about US$10.6 trillion in 2018, accounting for 10.9 percent of global GDP, based on statistics.It is projected to reach US$15 trillion by 2030, when it is expected to reach 12.1 percent of GDP, expanding demand for biomedical innovation focused on prevention and precision health, he said.
Taiwan, with its unique National Health Insurance (NHI) data and strong semiconductor and tech sectors, is well positioned to use artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies to become a global innovation hub for precision health, Wong said.He outlined four priorities for ushering in this new era: The first is to integrate NHI, human biobank and genomic data into an AI learning platform while keeping the data within institutions. The second is to using Taiwan’s technological strengths to develop biomedical chips and smart healthcare computing.The other priorities are to cultivate talent with expertise in biomedicine and AI, and to strengthen international cooperation by participating in large-scale global research and development projects, he said.Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) attended the event organized by the committee.Taiwan’s biotech industry attracted NT$55.08 billion (US$1.73 billion) in investment last year and generated NT$805 billion in revenue, demonstrating its potential for driving economic growth, Cho said.He said the government wants to revise and accelerate policies supporting biotechnology and medical technology to help the industry reach new heights and build a broader group of “national champions.”The premier said the government has been investing more in biotechnology through its Ten AI Initiatives Promotion Plan (2025-2028), with the sector playing a leading role in applying AI to healthcare.Cho said the government wants to make health information generated through AI-enabled services more widely available for noncommercial academic research.Meanwhile, Wu said the Executive Yuan’s National Development Fund approved a 10-year, NT$10 billion investment program for Taiwan’s biomedical industry to promote the development of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors.Wu said the government would continue promoting healthcare for older people, home-based medical care and remote healthcare, and aims to combine Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and AI hardware with its healthcare, pharmaceutical and medical device sectors to build a “smart biotech national team.”
