Dr. Chien-Sung, TSAI, Superintendent of Tri-Service General Hospital (TSGH) and Mr. Guang-Siang WANG, Chairman of Trican Biotechnology (TRB) signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) on March 26th, 2020. With the inking of MOU between TSGH and TRB, the two institutions will join hands in developing rapid screening technologies and therapeutic medications in the fight against COVID-19, by bringing together and sharing expertise of TRB team in antibody development and medication synthesis as well as technological knowhow of TSGH team on clinical exams and animal trials. Partnership and collaboration between TSGH and TRB aims towards providing healthcare services of high precision and potent effectiveness to patients seeking care. R&D products, technologies, and their clinical applications derived from the two institutions’ cooperation will for sure become potent tools of the government and people of Taiwan in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

On the sideline of the MOU signing ceremony, Superintendent TSAI stated that in response to fear and panic caused by COVID-19 global pandemic, every country has started to beef up epidemic preparedness and develop vaccines capable of protecting people from contracting the highly contagious corona virus disease. Dr. TSAI emphasized that TSGH will not be absent from the fight against COVID-19 pandemic and instead will actively support Central Epidemic Command Center and other government agencies to contain the deadly COVID-19 epidemic. Bearing in mind that disease prevention is as important as fighting in a battle, TSGH medical team will stand by Taiwan citizens in the fight against this infectious disease. Guided by central government’s epidemic prevention policy of “forward deployment and pre-emptive countermeasures in disease prevention and control”, TSGH is now actively engaged in projects on rapid test kit and vaccine R&D, aiming to contribute the military medical center’s expertise and capacity in enhancing Taiwan’s epidemic prevention effort.

Trican Biotechnology has vast human antibody gene libraries and R&D capability. Within three weeks after the outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic, Trican Biotechnology research staffs have identified several new antibodies with diagnosing and neutralizing properties, highlighting Trican Biotech’s strength and speed in medical R&D. The collaborative partnership aims to leverage Trican Biotech’s expertise in antibody development and antibody-drug conjugates and TSGH’s strength in clinical test and animal trials to expedite the R&D of Covid-19 rapid screening reagents capable of minimizing incidences of false negatives as well as the development of new therapeutic medications to treat COVID-19. The partnership between Trican Biotech and TSGH also aims to provide high quality healthcare services to patients seeking care.