Adimmune Corp (國光生技) on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Indonesia-based industrial-estate developer PT Berkah Kawasan Manyar Sejahtera (BKMS) as it eyes a new factory in Indonesia.
BKMS, a subsidiary of AKR Corporindo Tbk PT, helps foreign companies invest in Java Integrated Industrial Ports and Estate, which has been designated a special economic zone, Adimmune said.
“We will perform due diligence to determine whether to invest in the zone, and so far there is no specific timeline,” Adimmune spokesman Pan Fei (潘飛) told the Taipei Times by telephone yesterday.
“The zone is a strong candidate for overseas expansion, due to its infrastructure and advantageous policies, in addition to the large consumer base in Indonesia,” Pan said.
The Indonesian government welcomes investment from foreign biotech and pharmaceutical firms, as local production is expected to alleviate pressure on it to import drugs and vaccines, Pan said.
If Adimmune proceeds, it would produce its own influenza vaccines for the Indonesian market and others in Southeast Asia, he said, adding that the firm has halal certification for its flu shots.
It would focus on contract development and manufacturing to help clients develop their own vaccines, Pan said.
Adimmune chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) said at a signing ceremony on Thursday that the firm was planning clinical trials in Indonesia for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
Adimmune has conducted phase 1 trials in Taiwan and is considering phase 2 human trials in Indonesia, Pan said, adding that talks are ongoing with Indonesian regulators.
“We will not rush to complete the trials to obtain emergency use authorization from Indonesian regulators. Instead, the aim is for a normal approval procedure, as we believe that demand for COVID-19 vaccines will be long-term,” Pan said.
Adimmune’s cumulative sales fell 77 percent annually to NT$94 million (US$3.35 million) for the first six months.
ADVANCED: Previously, Taiwanese chip companies were restricted from building overseas fabs with technology less than two generations behind domestic factories Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chip supplier to Nvidia Corp, would no longer be restricted from investing in next-generation 2-nanometer chip production in the US, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. However, the ministry added that the world’s biggest contract chipmaker would not be making any reckless decisions, given the weight of its up to US$30 billion investment. To safeguard Taiwan’s chip technology advantages, the government has barred local chipmakers from making chips using more advanced technologies at their overseas factories, in China particularly. Chipmakers were previously only allowed to produce chips using less advanced technologies, specifically
The New Taiwan dollar is on the verge of overtaking the yuan as Asia’s best carry-trade target given its lower risk of interest-rate and currency volatility. A strategy of borrowing the New Taiwan dollar to invest in higher-yielding alternatives has generated the second-highest return over the past month among Asian currencies behind the yuan, based on the Sharpe ratio that measures risk-adjusted relative returns. The New Taiwan dollar may soon replace its Chinese peer as the region’s favored carry trade tool, analysts say, citing Beijing’s efforts to support the yuan that can create wild swings in borrowing costs. In contrast,
TARIFF SURGE: The strong performance could be attributed to the growing artificial intelligence device market and mass orders ahead of potential US tariffs, analysts said The combined revenue of companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and the Taipei Exchange for the whole of last year totaled NT$44.66 trillion (US$1.35 trillion), up 12.8 percent year-on-year and hit a record high, data compiled by investment consulting firm CMoney showed on Saturday. The result came after listed firms reported a 23.92 percent annual increase in combined revenue for last month at NT$4.1 trillion, the second-highest for the month of December on record, and posted a 15.63 percent rise in combined revenue for the December quarter at NT$12.25 billion, the highest quarterly figure ever, the data showed. Analysts attributed the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) quarterly sales topped estimates, reinforcing investor hopes that the torrid pace of artificial intelligence (AI) hardware spending would extend into this year. The go-to chipmaker for Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc reported a 39 percent rise in December-quarter revenue to NT$868.5 billion (US$26.35 billion), based on calculations from monthly disclosures. That compared with an average estimate of NT$854.7 billion. The strong showing from Taiwan’s largest company bolsters expectations that big tech companies from Alphabet Inc to Microsoft Corp would continue to build and upgrade datacenters at a rapid clip to propel AI development. Growth accelerated for
RSS