Today (29th), Anbogen Therapeutics, which focuses on the development of next-generation precision medicine and cancer drugs, held a laboratory opening ceremony and forum at the National Biotechnology Research Park, including many big wheels such as former Vice President Dr. Chien-jen Chen, and Kung-Yee Liang, Director of the National Health Research Institute, who participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The second half of the event was a biotech forum focusing on the needs and challenges of the domestic biotechnology industry. Dr. Hsing-Pang Hsieh, founder of Anbogen, Dr. Chien-Ting Lin, attending physician and professor of cancer medicine at NTU, Dr. Ming-Huan Liou, director of the Emerging Markets Center of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, and Dr. Chun-Hsuan Lo, Anbogen's chief strategy officer, gave special lectures on the front line of biotechnology research and development, clinical trials, economic conditions between Taiwan and the US, and the real needs of the domestic biotechnology industry. Dr. Lo then hosted a discussion with the on-site experts, exploring the true face of Taiwan biotechnology industry and bringing insightful and thought-provoking ideas for its future development.
Anbogen's product, ABT-101, was developed for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with HER2 Exon 20 gene mutation. The five-year survival rate of lung cancer has increased from 12.6% to 27.3%, but most of the NSCLC mutation subtypes still have no corresponding targeted drugs available. Lung cancer is the leading cause of death in Taiwan's top 10 cancers, with more than 10,000 new lung cancer patients in Taiwan each year, accounting for 85% of them being NSCLC. Globally, there are 2 million new NSCLC patients each year. In the future, ABT-101 will effectively combat this kind of cancer and benefit many lung cancer patients around the world.
Building on the development experience of ABT-101, Anbogen has developed a small-molecule pan-histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, ABT-301, which has completed Phase I clinical trials and ABT-201 is in the early stages of development. Since its establishment in 2019, Anbogen has two products entering Phase II clinical trials, becoming the focus of attention in the industry and a new biotech company with great growth potential in Taiwan.
The founding and management team of Anbogen, including co-founder Dr. Hsing-Pang Hsieh, CEO Dr. Tsu-An Hsu, and General Manager Po-Jen Hsueh, have all been engaged in new drug development at the National Health Research Institute for many years and are experienced in the field of pharmaceutical research and development. In August this year, Anbogen completed a stage-by-stage fundraising and invited Dr. Chun-Hsuan Lo, who is good at integrating clinical and official-academic resources, as its chief strategist. Dr. Chih-Yi Hsieh, the Special Medical Advisor, has extensive experience in tumor treatment and clinical trial related matters, and has more than ten years of experience in the development of anti-tumor new drugs, and has served as a medical consultant for Taipei Veterans General Hospital Blood Cancer Department and Novartis Taiwan. Anbogen has built a strong professional team to continue the development of ABT-101, with plans to expand to the US, Japan, South Korea, and Australia, and accelerate Phase II clinical trials.
Taiwan has a proud health insurance coverage rate and world-class medical services, and the five-year survival rate of all cancers in Taiwan has also increased to 60.6%. A first-class biotechnology industry is needed to support and complement each other in order to keep pace with advanced countries and improve national competitiveness and sustainable development. Anbogen hopes to provide a successful experience for domestic biotechnology companies to follow, while also attracting more resources from home and abroad to energize the overall medical biotechnology industry and create a unique “Taiwan Model”.
CEO of Anbogen Dr. Tsu-An Hsu said: "With the rapid development of genomics and the popularity of gene testing, although we can now accurately locate lesions, drug development still lags behind. Anbogen Therapeutics has rich experience in the development of new drugs and clinical trials, and we will accelerate the development of new drugs to fill in the missing pieces and bring breakthrough drugs or therapies to the world. We hope to become a top medical and pharmaceutical company like Amgen in the US, Roche in Switzerland, and Novartis in the future.“
Dr. Chun-Hsuan Lo, CSO of Anbogen, stated: "The development of medical biotechnology is not only an industrial layout, but also a national security issue. The development of new drugs is full of many difficulties and uncertainties, including precise selection, patent layout, platform integration, financial planning, etc. More importantly, it requires national policy support and international market participation. I believe that by cooperation between clinical doctors and frontline R&D personnel, many difficulties can be overcome and the development process can be accelerated. This time Anbogen also invited many medical personnel, including doctors, dentists, nurses, etc. to participate together. We believe this is a new beginning and we look forward to Taiwan from being a medical service superpower to becoming an advanced medical industry superpower.
Anbogen also plans to set up a new company in the United States, hoping to carve out a place in the international biomedicine industry, create a new pattern together with the domestic biotechnology industry, and create "magic mountains that protect the nation" for Taiwan!
Figure 1. International Precision Drug Merger and Acquisition Case