Drugs for the treatment of cancer, high cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes were the top-selling medicines in Taiwan last year, says a report by IMS Health, a US-based pharmaceutical data management company.
IMS Health statistics on drug sales last year show that among the 20 top-selling drugs, six were for cancer while another six for high cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes.
Navasc, a drug used to treat high blood pressure, topped the list, followed by Glivec for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia, Lipitor for high cholesterol and Divovan for hypertension, the statistics released on Saturday show.
Tai Cheng-jeng (戴承正), director of the hematology and hematological oncology department at Taipei Medical University Hospital, said the sale of cancer drugs would grow significantly in Taiwan over the next decade.
Drugs used to treat different types of cancer are expected to take 10 places on the top-20 list, Tai said.
For example, the number of people in Taiwan taking Herceptin — a drug used to prevent recurrence of breast cancer — has been increasing annually because it has proved very effective, he said.
The sale of Herceptin increased 33.8 percent last year, which was the highest growth among the 20 most popular medicines in the country, he said.
Herceptin was seventh on the IMS Health top 20 list for last year.
Tai also said sales of the drug Erbitus for the treatment of colorectal cancer will increase in the future, since every year 10,000 people are diagnosed with that type of cancer.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
RSS