Introduction
Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research (IBPR) at National Health Research Institutes (NHRI), was initially established as Division of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research in January 1998 and later promoted to the institute status in August 2010. With over 20 principal investigators and 200 dedicated scientists, IBPR aims to engage in cutting-edge biomedical researches for the betterment of health and quality of life for humanity. Throughout the past years, IBPR has established a mission-driven discovery engine (accelerator) with vertical and horizontal integration. The paradigm has been shifted from early me-too/me-better approach to first-in-class/best-in-class in order to elevate the Institute’s capability to be recognized as the “Center of Excellence for Innovative Drug Discovery in Asia, CEIDDA”.
IBPR has transformed into fully integrated research unit combining omni-technology platforms in drug discovery and development in Taiwan. These multi-disciplinary technologies cover major aspects of the drug discovery and development processes that include automated high-throughput screening, molecular biology, medicinal chemistry, structural biology/cheminformatics, animal pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, drug metabolism, pre-formulation/early-phase formulation and project management. In particular, IBPR creates strong synergies through extended intramural collaborative programs at NHRI to tackle new challenges that has resulted in several innovations, which in turn, broadened IBPR’s scientific expertise and horizons. Moreover, IBPR has actively pursued collaborations with local and international pharmaceutical/biotech companies, universities, and research institutes to enrich the biotargets portfolio and firmly position itself as an integrated institute at the frontier of applied biomedical research.
IBPR seeks and values the early engagement from physicians to carry out its drug discovery projects. Clinical perspectives and insights from physicians can guide the discovery scientists to address the unmet medical needs by identifying gaps/problems of current treatments and elucidating the potential new opportunities of new approaches. IBPR wishes to foster nurturing research environment that shortens the translational gaps and bridges between clinical physicians and discovery scientists, hoping to generate synergy which empowers the innovative ideas and breakthrough for biomedical research.
Mission
IBPR’s missions are:
- Executing integrated drug R&D activities to develop novel medicines and technologies with patentability
- Promoting collaborative network with domestic and international academics, research institutes, and industrial partners that leads to novel drug R&D
- Establishing world-class drug R&D technologies to address unmet medical needs
Future Perspectives
IBPR will make rapid strides in the research and development capabilities to increase of R&D effectiveness across the entire value chain from early phase discovery to pre-clinical and clinical development. Ultimately, the goal is to have novel drug candidates be successfully developed from the NHRI (and its collaborators) network and reach the market to benefit the patients.
IBPR’s perspectives on:
- Clinical and pre-clinical development assets: to achieve clinical and regulatory success by delivering “novel NMEs” to meet the local health care needs
- Discovery pipeline from target identification to target validation to lead generation and lead optimization: further solidify the role of “Drug Discovery Engine” in discovering “Best-in-Class” and “First-in-Class” clinical candidates and become the “partner of choice” of Taiwan’s rising biotech and pharmaceutical industry
- New technology platforms/capabilities: increase the overall R&D competitiveness and scientific innovations that empower IBPR to compete at the global level as an “innovative solution provider” for the biotech and pharmaceutical sector
In addition, collaborations within the NHRI network, domestic or international academics/research hospitals and industrial partners will be actively explored to establish various cutting-edge technological platforms at IBPR.
Core value
- Innovation for Sustainability
- Belief in Teamwork
- Passion for Excellence
- Responsibility for Human Health