Taiwan Bio-Manufacturing Corporation (TBMC) and US-based National Resilience Inc are expected to formally sign a partnership agreement on 2 February, signalling that Taiwan's biotech industry will further expand its global presence with nucleic acid drugs, gene therapy and cell therapy. Dr Patrick Y. Yang, who is expected to take over as chairman of TBMC, will be present at the signing ceremony, which is also expected to unveil TBMC's executive team.

Taiwan-born David Y. H. Chang, a veteran of Celgene's CAR-T manufacturing team, is expected to lead TBMC as CEO. Celgene was acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals (BMS) for $74 billion in 2019, after which Chang joined WuXi AppTec, which has a proven history and solid background in gene therapy, cell therapy and CDMO.

Also born in Taiwan, Patrick Y. Yang co-founded National Resilience in January 2021 with ARCH’s Chairman and Cofounder, Robert Nelson. The company has marked its name because of producing mRNA vaccines for Moderna. Yang previously served as Executive Vice President and Global Head of Technical Operations at Roche.

The partnership between TBMC and National Resilience includes nucleic acid drugs, gene therapy, cell therapy and a small number of protein drugs. To reduce costs, only clean rooms will be built in the Taiwanese facilities, while other equipment will be sourced from local institutes such as ITRI or DCB.

TBMC's main production facility is located in the Zhubei Biomedical Park. Construction of the 11-storey building is scheduled to begin in 2024, with completion and operation planned for 2027. With Yang's support, National Resilience is expected to play an important role bringing in CDMO orders.

National Resilience will provide the required technologies, while some Taiwanese R&D institutes will sign technology transfer agreements with TBMC.