Corporate executives said TaiMed Biologics will launch a second-phase public offering to raise more funds in October, and private enterprises are welcome to take up the stakes.

TaiMed Biologics will be dedicated to the development of new drugs to fight killer diseases like cancer and AIDS, viruses that cause contagious diseases like influenza, and precision medical instruments.

It will cooperate with biotech partners in Taiwan and abroad in the future.

Former Vice Premier Tsai Ing-wen now serves as chairwoman of the company, whose board members include President Wong Chi-huey of the Academia Sinica and internationally known anti-AIDS medical expert David Ho.

Leading academic and industry authorities, including former Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh and chairman Morris Chang of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) will be among the corporate advisers.

Through the Development Fund, the government has a 40 percent stake in the new biotech company. Main private shareholders include the Uni-President Group, the Yung Foong Yu Group, and Tsai’s family.

But the company has recently come under criticism, mainly because Tsai’s family is currently the biggest shareholder from the private sector, while the government controls a 40 percent stake.

Critics alleged that Tsai and her family sought to dominate the company and the lucrative biotech business operations with the backing of public funds.

They also suspected that Tsai could have a vested interest when she exerted her influence as vice premier to push through a statute with generous incentives, including tax exemption and distribution of stock options to leading technicians and executives, to encourage the development of the biotech industry while she was still in public office.

Executives of TaiMed Biologics refuted the criticism and clarified misunderstandings.

They said during the organizing process of the company, very few private companies had shown interest in injecting financing.

Tsai and her family had to jump in because the company was under pressure to complete the establishment of the new business entity, so that it could strike a cooperation deal with Genentech, a top biotech company.

Many multinational corporations around the world were competing for an opportunity to form strategic partnerships with Genentech. Taiwan could lose the rare chance if it acts too late.

Chairwoman Ho Mei-yueh of the Cabinet’s Council for Economic Planning and Development which supervises the investment operations of the government’s Development Fund, said the government will gradually relegate its role in the budding company after it attracts adequate capital from the private sector.

The Development Fund has in the past provided seed capital to help launch many high-tech enterprises in Taiwan, including TSMC. The government’s stake in TSMC, which has evolved into the world’s leading dedicated chipmaker, has been slashed to 6.2 percent from 48 percent during TSMC’s inception, Ho said.

Wong of the Academia Sinica also dismissed allegations that he had agreed to sit on the board of TaiMed Biologics for personal gain.

He said he was invited to join the board in the initial stages to represent the government fund so that the company could start formal operation as early as possible.

Wong said he will relinquish his post at the budding company when a suitable replacement is found.

But Wong stressed that Taiwan can make significant contributions to the biotech industry.

Despite its relatively small population, Taiwan now ranks fourth in the world in terms of the number of international patents it gets.

Taiwan even takes the top place in the world in terms of “patent productivity” — the value generated from patents on a per capita basis, Wong added.

He encouraged private enterprises in Taiwan, especially those already in the business, to infuse funding and become shareholders of TaiMed Biologics to enable the new company to have bigger financial clout when seeking cooperation or joint ventures with international partners.

Private biotech companies should not worry about competition from TaiMed, because they can either become shareholders of the firm or business partners in the sectors of manufacturing or services in the future, he explained.

Chairman Chang of TSMC said in a recent speech that with the right cultivation and development, biotechnology will have the potential of growing into one of the most lucrative and illustrious industries for Taiwan in the years ahead.

The Formosa Plastics Group, one of the largest business conglomerates in Taiwan, is among the business concerns that have already diversified investment and expansion into the biotech industry.

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