FBC, UBIA Tie Up in Protein New Drugs

The Formosa Plastic Group (FPG) and United Biomedical Inc. Asia (UBIA) of Taiwan recently announced the establishment of a joint venture to make protein drugs. Formosa Biomedical Technology Corp. (FBC), a biotech subsidiary of the FPG, invested NT$800 million (US$26.7 million) into the venture for a 25% stake. UBI acquired the remaining 75% share through a technology and asset swap.

The new venture is scheduled to soon kick off a second round of financing to raise NT$300 million (US$10 million) through share sales at a premium of NT$80 (US$2.7). The second round of funding is expected to introduce strategic investors to the new company and provide capital for a drug plant.

Industry sources said that patents expiring in 2020 would unlock about US$80 billion worth of business opportunities, attracting many international drug makers, including Mycenax Biotech Inc., EirGenix Inc., JHL Biotech Inc., and UBIA.

FBC pointed out that UBIA has developed several innovative peptide vaccines for making drugs treating Alzheimer's disease, AIDS and other conditions. In addition to vaccines, UBIA swapped several high-potential protein drugs as part of its technical shareholding in the new venture, FBC added.

UBIA was founded in 1998. Most of the top management, including chairperson and CEO C.Y. Wang, are biotechnology experts who returned to Taiwan from the United States. UBIA acquired Roche and GSK's cGMP drug plants in Taiwan in 2001, and then utilized the facilities to research special injection-agent generic drugs. From 2003 to 2006, UBIA set up a pilot factory for protein/monoclonal antibody biomedical drugs, which can produce protein drugs for clinical trials.

In late 2012, UBIA originally planned to sell its drug plant in Hsinchu, northern Taiwan to Synpac-Kingdom Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. under Taiwan's CSRC Group for NT$648 million (US$21.6 million). On the eve of the transaction, UBIA decided instead to sell the plant to another local company, Aupa Biopharm Co., Ltd. By acquiring major international pharmaceutical's facilities in Taiwan, UBIA has positioned to receive contract orders from big drug brands such as GSK, Roche, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi and Astellas.

FBC has been aggressively developing its biotechnology-related businesses, from detergents and cosmetics to health-care to biomedical products. The firm has also ventured into the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields in partnership with hospitals, medical education institutions and pharmaceutical makers. In the past few years, the firm's revenues have increased at an average annual rate of 10%-20%.