Precision Health

Precision health is one of the core strategic industries in Taiwan, whose essence lies in humanistic care, can not only bring the economic development but also contribute to the well-being of humanity. To drive the growth of next generation industries, the government launched the “Biomedical Industry Innovation Program” in 2017, focusing on advancing pharmaceuticals, medical devices, applied biotechnology, and health and welfare. In 2019, the “Taiwan Precision Health Initiative” acknowledged the evolving concept of health from treatment to proactive prevention and prediction. The initiative introduced three dimensions: regenerative medicine, precision medicine and digital health.

Taiwan has an excellent healthcare system, abundant clinical resources and national-level health insurance database and human biobank applicable to pharmaceutical and biotechnological research, as well as precision medical services. These advantages, combined with a robust foundation in ICT industries, have made interdisciplinary collaboration between biomedicine and ICT a key driver of innovation in Taiwan's biomedicine industry. With collaborative efforts from the government, academia, and industry, Taiwan has achieved significant milestones in various aspects of the biomedical industry. This includes the development of biomedical clusters, expansion of ecosystems, introduction of new drugs and medical devices, applications of digital/smart technology, research and development of precision epidemic prevention technology, and support for startups. These efforts have contributed to the annual growth of the overall revenue of Taiwan's biomedical industry, with a market value surpassing trillion. The focus of the future precision health industries strategy will emphasize three key dimensions:

1. Date Governance Framework: Accelerate the revision of the "Human Biobank Management Act," establish an independent supervision mechanism for personal data protection, and enhance public trust in data sharing.

2. Cultivate Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO): Enhance the industry ecosystem, including regulations, talent, funding, and technology, to establish international competitiveness for Taiwan's CDMO sector.

3. Semiconductor x Biomedical and Agriculture: Develop more precise and effective technologies for data collection, transmission, analysis, algorithms, and applications to advance the bio-chip, smart agriculture and health industries.

Precision health is already a crucial trend in the global medical and health industry. In the future, the government will leverage Taiwan's strengths in manufacturing and ICT to continually promote the application of biomedical big data, and establish the infrastructure for smart healthcare and services. Through policy guidance, the government aims to drive industry innovation, working towards a comprehensive vision of precision health covering all aspects of health issues, such as prevention, diagnosis, treatment and healthcare by the year 2030.