台灣發展生物晶片方向之研究

Abstract

二十世紀有兩項重要的發明，其一是電腦晶片，另一項就是生物晶片。『生物晶片』是結合生物、化學、電子、機械以及材料科學等領域的產品，由於具有大量快速、精確、低成本之分析檢測能力，於是便成為分析基因序列的重要工具。目前全球生物晶片，尚處於技術研發與整合時期，整個技術標準尚未建立。影響生物晶片發展的因素，除了價格、技術瓶頸之外，最重要的是國外生物晶片廠商所設下的專利障礙。 本研究首先蒐集次級資料，分析生物晶片的種類、製程、產業結構以及應用領域。並探討生物晶片的市場和國內外生物晶片廠商的競爭狀況。本研究以個案分析模式研究美國生物晶片大廠Affymetrix的發展歷程、財務現狀、產品行銷、營運策略與專利概況等，並分析該公司近年來涉及的專利爭訟案件。最後歸納出我國發展生物晶片產業之利基與機會。 本研究發現，國外生物晶片廠商正積極進行策略聯盟與技術授權，並逐漸轉型開發SNP資料庫以及新藥研發領域。因此建議國內業者加強研發能力，並致力於專利策略部署，才能培養競爭優勢，擁有與國外大廠進行授權或是策略聯盟的談判籌碼。此外國內產官學研各界應組成生物晶片聯盟，將國內有限的資源與人才整合起來，才能發揮力量，共同開發利基市場。

Biochips manufacturing requires knowledge from cross-disciplinary fields including biology, chemistry, electronics, micro mechanics, and material science etc. It has the potential to analyze a large number of genome quickly and inexpensively. This research investigated the manufacturing technologies, the applications, and the current status of domestic and foreign biochip companies. The pioneering biochip company, Affymetrix, was analyzed as a case study. It’s development history, product lines, M&A strategies, and most importantly, the patent protections and dispute litigations were thoroughly studied. It could serve as a valuable guiding post for every biochip company to benchmark against. The leading biochip companies in the world are building SNP databases, which would be essential to the development of new drugs as well as customized drugs. Developing biochips requires a large amount of capital and a relatively long period. Therefore, this research recommends domestic biochip companies establish strategic alliances with foreign biochip companies with patent rights. Moreover, Taiwan government sponsored biochip R&D organizations and private companies should join efforts to make biochip industry a success in Taiwan.