A long period of government and private investment in Taiwan has produced an ecosystem that spans the entire precision medicine value chain, from research, testing and diagnostics to medical treatment. The findings of our PwC survey revealed four different characteristics of the precision medicine industry in Taiwan.
Fifty-percent of surveyed companies involved in precision medicine are startups with capital of less than NT$500m (US$16m). One-third of the companies were only incorporated within the past 5 years. These startups are R&D-based with over 30% of their annual budget spent on product development.
Eighty-two percent of surveyed companies involved in precision medicine focus on molecular testing and diagnostics (IVDs and laboratory testing), followed by bioinformatics software and analytics (74%), and DNA sequencing instrument (70%). They expect to remain focused in these areas in the next 5-10 years.
Seventy-one percent of surveyed companies involved in precision medicine have marketed their products or services overseas. Among them, 85% consider China to have the largest market potential, followed by the United States (50%) and Southeast Asia (38%). However, different regulatory approval processes, local competition, and lack of local partners are the main barriers to operational success overseas.
Eighty six percent of survey respondents consider Taiwan’s strengths in information communication technology to be basis for the future successful development of a precision medicine ecosystem.
Our PwC analysis identified four typical business models that international precision medicine developers tend to adopt in order to gain market traction in an ever-changing healthcare environment.