First foreign company from Taiwan to be permitted on baby blood banking in China!

訊聯 搶進大陸臍帶血市場

【經濟日報╱記者謝柏宏／台北報導】 2010.11.24 國內臍帶血儲存業陸續跨到海外市場，訊聯生技昨（23）日宣布，與中國大陸醫療機構合作，成為大陸第一家外資臍帶血儲存公司；生寶生技也表示，力拚十年內成為全球第一大的臍帶血儲存公司。訊聯董事長蔡政憲表示，該公司歷經七年布局，終獲大陸官方認可，允許訊聯與廣州市婦女兒童醫療中心簽署合約，共同投資人民幣6,000萬元（約合新台幣2.75億元）成立廣州訊聯生技公司，訊聯持股66.7%，跨足對岸市場。臍帶血儲存在大陸為特許行業，目前全大陸僅有七家臍帶血庫，業者平均花6.8年，並符合各項嚴苛條件，才能通過大陸有關當局的驗收。訊聯也是唯一進入中國臍帶血儲存市場的外資企業。在此之前，訊聯已在世界各國布局，分別在美國、印尼及印度等市場找到策略合作夥伴。訊聯總經理劉天來指出，廣東省每年有超過120萬名新生兒出生，約為台灣今年出生數的八倍；大陸在一胎化政策下，民眾對下一代投資非常大方，除了臍帶血之外，看好臍帶與牙齒等多元幹細胞的市場規模將持續成長。州市婦女兒童醫療中心過去提供的幹細胞移植數居大陸之冠，雙方合作後，臍帶血庫配對資料將達3萬筆，成為亞洲最大的可搜尋的資料庫。合資新公司將在明年下半年正式運作，訊聯目標新公司在兩年內可達成損益兩平。國內另一家臍帶血儲存公司生寶生技，近年來將業務重心擴展到海外市場。生寶董事長章修綱表示，目前已在香港、澳門、泰國、美國成立子公司，其中香港、澳門及泰國等地市占率都達到第一名。生寶更自今年8月起，在英屬維京群島登記成立「Stemgen Biotech控股集團」，章修綱表示，今年集團營收規模已達10億元以上。章修綱表示，生寶未來的重心，是在2015年完成東南亞及日韓等國布局，至於美國市場目前也有四家百分百轉投資子公司，目標沿著美國各地以環狀方式布局，十年內成為全球第一大的臍帶血儲存公司。

China license issued for cord blood bank

Bionet Corp (訊聯生物科技), a Taiwan-based cord blood banking service, said yesterday it has been granted a license by Chinese health authorities to start business operations in China. Bionet chairman Christopher Tsai (蔡政憲) said the company is the only foreign firm among seven such services that have permission to operate in China. Tsai said the license is expected to take Bionet one step further toward global expansion, after -gaining a foothold in the US, Indonesia and India. Meanwhile, the Taiwanese company has signed an agreement with the Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center to set up a joint venture in the southern Chinese city to provide banking services for cord blood, peripheral blood and mesenchymal stem cells. The company said both parties are preparing to register the joint venture in Guangzhou and hope the new company will start operations in the first quarter of next year. According to the Guangzhou Health Bureau, Bionet is the first private firm in Asia to obtain certification from the American Association of Blood Banks and its presence in Guangzhou is expected to help internationalize the city's biotech business. Bionet president Liu Tien-lai (劉天來) said that more than 1.2 million babies are born in Guangdong Province each year, about eight times the number in all of Taiwan, meaning there is great potential for market growth in the Chinese province.