Since its founding in 2000, Taiwan Liposome Company, TLC, which upholds the vision for becoming a leading international biotech drug company based on liposome technology, has grown to be a representative indicator company for new drug development in Taiwan. President George Yeh, who joined TLC in 2002, is not only a soul figure of the company, but also a model biotech entrepreneur in the minds of many. We interview President Yeh today about his outlooks and expectations on the biotech industry of Taiwan.

Q: When you just joined TLC, there were not many new drug development companies in Taiwan, and quite a lot of people looked coldly on the new drug development industry, but now we can say that it is TLC who has successfully led the growth of Taiwan's new drug industry, how did you look at this direction and trend in the beginning?

A: I’ve known our founder Dr. Hong for many years before I joined the company, I’m very moved by his intention of wanting to bring back to his motherland a technology which he thinks would greatly benefit the patients here, and because research and development in biotech is more knowledge- and experience-intensive, rather than labor- and scale-intensive, I think for a small country like Taiwan, there could be some real opportunities here, so that’s why I decided to join TLC and be part of the team dedicated in delivering hope for life to patients. I’m happy to see more and more biotech companies in Taiwan delivering very promising results, it surely is a very positive trend for the industry going forward.

Q:Dr. Keelung Hong has indeed good eyes for a champion in finding you for TLC. Among the works over the years, what makes you feel most accomplishing? What is the most challenging?

A: I would say making drugs is about one of the toughest jobs in the world, because you are dealing with human lives where one little mistake can have a catastrophic result. Biotech is an industry where you can spend more than 10 years of your time on an asset, yet you have no guarantee on its success rate, so running a biotech company, I have to constantly think about how we can utilize our expertise and core technology to minimize that risk, that’s why we have a “platform” system where we can plug-and-play different compounds based on the target product profile we set from market needs. Every step of the way has been a real challenge. But on the other hand, because the threshold is so high, every milestone we achieve becomes very rewarding. My biggest reward from being in the industry is when one of our drugs, an antifungal drug called “AmBiL®” was able to come into play at the time when there was a shortage in the market, and we were there to fill the gap and actually help the patients in need from life-threatening diseases, that’s when I truly felt the value of all our hard work throughout the years: to benefit the patients in need, and that was a very powerful reminder of why I got in this industry in the first place.

Q: TLC has already accomplished several cases of out-licensing to international companies. Taiwan’s economy is quite dependent on the international market. In this regard, what are your suggestions to biotech companies in Taiwan?

A: Think global from Day One, the home market here is too small, in order for biotech companies to survive, we really need international resources, including the funding, talents and partners, so that you can leverage those resources and launch straight into the global market when everything is ready.

Q: To ensure the international presence of Taiwan’s biotech industry, the government has been making great efforts in giving assistances. Do you have anything in particular to call on policy directions?

A: We need a lot of resources globally, in order to go global. So if the government can deregulate more, in terms of the controls on foreign funding and foreign talents, we can go a lot further.

Q: What are your expectations or advices to young people who have entered biotech industry for not a long time?

A: Biotech is a tough road, and you really have to have the passion to be willing to devote yourself, you will get tired, stressed and depressed throughout the process, but you have to keep on reminding yourself the reason why you are in this for to start off with.