THAIWAN Grouped under the heading “biotechnology”, Taiwan has 450 companies in the applied biotech segment, 350 companies in the pharmaceutical segment and 705 medical device companies! Learn how clinical approval collaboration between Taiwan and China will be mutually recognized-saving huge amounts of time and money.  Looking ahead, Taiwan Inc.’s pipeline looks great:  17 compounds in Phase I, 73 in Phase II and III, and 6 at the NDA stage (Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Industries Promotion Office, Minister of Economic Affairs, April 2013).  The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), a preferential trade pact between China and Taiwan has lowered trade barriers and opened the door for broader collaboration with a country that IMS Health estimates will become the world’s largest pharma market by 2015. The market capitalization of listed and over-the-counter (OTC) biotech companies in Taiwan has grown an astounding 520% in the last four years alone, from USD 2.5 billion in January 2009 to USD 15.7 billion in March 2013. Review the Top 20 lists of both Multinational and local companies in Taiwan ranked in 2012 by Sales Volume. Contributors include: National Health Research Institutes, PAREXEL, Taiwan Bio Industry Association (TBIO), TTY  Biopharm, United Biomedical (UBI,) AstraZeneca, BioNet, EirGenix, Genovate, Taigen, IMS Health and Lotus Pharmaceuticals.