November 15, 2001

Tanox, a U.S.-based bio-pharmaceutical company, has just announced the establishment of the Taiwan Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Company (TBMC) in Taiwan. TBMC is expected to be the largest company of its kind in Asia. The project has caused quite a stir not only in Taiwan's industrial and investment circles, but has also caught the attention of business leaders in Singapore and China, who have shown considerable interest in this huge investment.

Dr. Nancy T. Chang, president of Tanox, says that the raising of capital for the company is still in progress. However, it is estimated that the total investment of TBMC will be as much as NT$14 billion (US$405.8 million). TBMC will have to complete the collection of capital by the end of this year in order to meet its start-up schedule.

Tanox is a bio-pharmaceutical company with demonstrated expertise in monoclonal antibody technology. Dr. Chang and her ex-husband, who founded the company, are originally from Taiwan. Tanox's new drugs for treating asthma and allergies are expected to be approved by the U.S. FDA and then launched on the market by 2002 or 2003 at the latest. Since April of 2000, Tanox has been publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol TNOX, after the company successfully completed an initial public offering, raising capital of US$244 million. It is considered to be the largest IPO project in the U.S. biotechnology industry in recent history.

It is reported that TBMC will initially adopt an OEM format of manufacturing, much like the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) did when it first started its operations in Taiwan. According to some estimates, when TBMC is fully operational its production will reach 1,250 kilograms of drugs per year. By 2008, its total production value could amount to as much as US$5 billion.

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