The National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) has spearheaded the creation of the “Taiwan Medical Shield”, an NT$8 billion pandemic preparedness arsenal set to go online in stages starting next year. Huey-Kang Sytwu, Director of NHRI, announced on the 26th that to align with the completion of NHRI’s second vaccine manufacturing facility in 2027, the institute’s National Infectious Diseases Database (NIDB) will launch first, aiming to become one of the top three infectious disease databases in Asia and help local vaccine and diagnostic industries tap into a market worth tens of billions of NT dollars.
During the National Day speech in October, President Lai Ching-te first announced that with the NIDB becoming operational next year, Taiwan will continue to collaborate with international partners in biotechnology. Executive Yuan Commissioner Chen Shih-chung explained that once operational, NIDB will systematically collect specimens, provide preservation technology services, and support preclinical animal studies. Combined with the human biobank and National Health Insurance database, these three pillars will drive biotechnology advancement, creating another “national protective stronghold.”
Director Sytwu elaborated that following the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak, domestic academic institutions and biotech companies sought to establish a self-reliant pandemic response system. In addition to NT$2 billion sponsorship from Samuel Yin, Chairman of Ruentex Group, the National Development Council approved a near NT$8 billion budget to build NHRI’s second biologics (vaccine) facility and the NIDB.
He stated that the national-level pandemic infrastructure will begin yielding results from next year. First, the NIDB hardware project, costing NT$500 million, is expected to be completed by the end of next year and certified by the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s CDC, with official operations to start within a year. The vaccine facility’s construction will follow, targeted for completion in 2027 and operational by 2028.
According to the plan, NHRI’s second vaccine facility will have the capacity to manufacture licensed products such as BCG vaccines and antivenoms, as well as produce novel vaccines including nucleic acid, viral vector, and recombinant protein vaccines. Director Sytwu emphasized that Taiwan will then officially possess government-led mRNA vaccine mass production capabilities. For the NIDB, NHRI aims to systematically collect bacterial, fungal, and viral strains previously responsible for outbreaks to serve as research and development resources, alongside multiple P3-level laboratories capable of cell and animal-level operations.
Director Sytwu explained that the necessity of NIDB lies in rapid pandemic response. With a comprehensive infectious disease database, Taiwan can quickly identify the required testing reagents and vaccine development directions in the event of a new outbreak. For instance, developing a rapid diagnostic kit may require comparison with at least ten different strains. He noted that over the past 20 years, the government has already collected more than 90,000 bacterial strains.
Once NIDB is fully established, it is expected to hold over 100,000 strains, ranking among the top three in Asia, behind only Japan and China.
NHRI has also signed agreements with two major global organizations, becoming a member of the International Microbial Strain Consortium and the Asian Microbial Strain Consortium, enabling the sharing of critical pathogen data internationally.
Resource: 「台灣醫盾」催動百億商機 助力本土疫苗及檢測產業
