Singapore: Taiwan company Orient Europharma and Japan-based pharmaceutical company NanoCarrier have signed a new agreement for conducting registration trials of Nanoplatin in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and Australia. Nanoplatin, a new cancer treatment co-developed by the two companies, is now in phase II clinical trial stage. The two companies had entered into a co-development agreement in 2008.

The new agreement, signed earlier this month, also includes setting up of a new manufacturing site in Taiwan to supply Nanoplatin Injection to the global market. Mr Peter Tsai, president and CEO of Orient Europharma, and Dr Ichiro Nakatomi, president and CEO of NanoCarrier, signed the agreement in the presence of Taiwan FDA, IDB and Science & Technology Office of Executive Yuan, Taiwan.

The cooperation project will benefit many cancer patients, and boost the bio-pharmaceutical industry in Taiwan. The two companies will start registration trials of Nanoplatin in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and Australia in 2013. The new manufacturing site will be located in the Central Taiwan Science Park- Huwui Park. Construction will start in 2013 and complete in 2016. The plant is the first ever manufacturing site for NanoCarrier and the company will support the planning and designing
of the new site, aiming to passing the inspection of the US FDA and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in Japan.

This manufacturing site, when up and running, will supply Nanoplatin to the global market. The site is estimated to cost about NT$ 700 million to build, and create over 50 post-graduate jobs for the central Taiwan area. The annual revenue is projected to be $ 500 million in the initial stage.

Mr Peter Tsai expressed that the success of this co-development project should be attributed to the Industrial Development Bureau's "Taiwan-Japan Industrial Collaboration Bridging Project", which has set a new model for the collaboration between the two countries in new drug R&D. Also, the TFDA's
new drug R&D advisory mechanism has convinced the two companies to conduct registration trials of Nanoplatin in Taiwan and to make Taiwan the first country to launch this new product. Mr Tsai pointed out that the Taiwanese government has introduced many new policies over the past few
years to encourage the bio-pharmaceutical industry to invest in new drug R&D.

Especially, Mr Wang Jin-Pyng, spokesperson of the Legislative Yuan, and Mr Sean Chen, premier of the Executive Yuan, in August announced the 33 policy guidelines on biopharmaceutical industry promotion and set out an explicit timetable for the reform of new drug development and the BNHI pricing policy. These actions inspire the industry's confidence. This cooperation project is indeed a showcase for the Executive Yuan's "Taiwan Biotech Take-off Diamond Action Plan".

Mr Ichiro Nakatomi, President of NanoCarrier, highlighted the Taiwanese government TFDA and IDB have come up with a new policy to provide necessary support and assistance for a domestic company contributing to the research development of a innovative pharmaceutical product by helping them quickly obtain drug licenses and drug prices. This policy will contribute to the success of new drug R&D in Taiwan.