Emerging life science hub Taiwan, a country that hopes to build a strong grip on medical technology sector in the future, established its first venture capital fund with both public and private involvement, called Taiwan Medtech Fund. The country's first biotechnology funds are aimed at stimulating future investment and support the start-ups.

In cooperation with US-based, The Vertical Group, Taiwan Medtech Fund has a capital target of $172 million, with 20 percent being contributed by the National Development Fund and 80 percent by state-run enterprises.

Dr Ellson Chen, CEO, Vita Genomics, considers establishment of the TMF to be an important milestone, as it represents the first of such endeavour. Dr Chen, while talking about the Medtech fund, says, "Taiwan biotech industry has welcomed TMF for an obvious reason. It will bring a unique opportunity to upgrade local medical devise calibre. In particular, many IT manufacturers are looking to expand their product application to medical devices and collaboration with TMF could potentially speed up the process," he believes.

Claiming to be the next super power in pharmaceutical industry, China has invested $178.7 billion in medical and healthcare reform from 2009-11. Originally planned at $134.4 billion, China restricted its investments and increased the priority for pharmaceutical sector. China has been reported to make large investments in innovative studies and encourage the upgrade of the industry.

Since the adoption of the National Biotechnology Policy (NBP), biotechnology has been a serious affair in Malaysia. Malaysia built a decent R&D base with the help of good government support, active private sector participation and high investments.

With inputs from Manasi Vaidya, Bangalore