The Ministry of Health and Welfare
LabTurbo Biotech Awarded by The Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taiwan
- Ministry of Health and Welfare
- 01/25/2021
The Ministry of Health and Welfare partnered with the Ministry of Economic Affairs to hold a ceremony to award the 2020 Pharmaceutical Science and Technology Research award, on December 15, 2020. There were a total of 55 competing products, breaking past records. It was a fierce competition. After months of review and examination, the review team decided that there were 15 products that stood out from the rest, and were awarded gold, silver, or bronze respectively. This was a record high in quantity for awarded products. Thus, showing the innovation ability of the medical and biotechnological industries and their achievements.
The past ten years have seen a rapid growth in terms of the biotechnological industry, which is one of the six core industries strongly supported by the Taiwanese government. It is expected that innovative drug and medical instruments are the main driving force behind the biotechnological industry in Taiwan, which are projected to enter the global market in the future. Thus regarding the award ceremony, all competing products were divided into three categories for review: Drug, Medical Devices, and Manufacturing Technology. The award is aimed to honor innovation technology which has made significant contributions towards effective drug or medical care for patients, thus improving the global competence of the biotechnological industry in Taiwan.
This year, there were only three products that were granted gold awards. One was the Caduceus Microarray Chip Scanner, from the Caduceus Biotechnology Inc. The was the first product manufactured locally in Taiwan for this field. The scanner can be used to test chromosomal abnormalities of fetal or neonatal development, allergens, drugs, and crops. It can be applied to identify developing cancer markers. The second was Co-Midis Tablets, developed by Standard Chem & Pharm Co., LTD. As a compound preparation made up of Telmisartan and Amlodipine, Co-Midis Tablets works through two complementary mechanisms, making it the latest drug design for blood pressure reduction clinically. The third product to win gold was the LeSONO LU700 Wireless Handheld Ultrasound, developed by LELTEK INC. This was a miniaturized medical ultrasound system designed to obtain ultrasonic images with high resolution for doctors and researchers to analyze in a variety of clinical fields.
With respect to the silver and bronze awards, there were six products honored respectively, including products related to COVID-19, as such as detection technology developed to find antibodies against the new coronavirus and a product to take care of patients infected with the virus from a safe distance. LabTurbo Biotech Corporation was awarded silver for their AIO Full-Process Automatic Nucleic Acid Extraction and Gene Testing System, which has been shown to improve test efficiency for detection. The bronze award was given to Excelsior Bio-Systems Incorporation for their Rapid Test Reagent for Antibodies Against COVID-19. This product has already been granted approval from the Health and Welfare Ministry. A bronze award also went to Somnics Inc., for its safe distance physical analysis platform to solve the problem about how to care for patients when they are quarantined at home during epidemic prevention. All the products awarded show that the scientific and research teams from Taiwan have the capability to connect with the world’s top technology, so as to play a key role in epidemic prevention.
The industry index has been built with the help of the Pharmaceutical Science and Technology Research and Development Award. All previous companies honored perform well in their own fields. Next year will see the 20th Pharmaceutical Science and Technology Research and Development Award. It’s expected that there will be more exceptional pharmaceutical, medical device, and manufacturing technologies taking part in the competition with their innovative products. Moreover, all circles including industries, governments, universities, and research institutes are encouraged to make mutual efforts to create brand value in the biotechnology industry in Taiwan with international competence improved in this area.