Investorideas.com Newswire
Date: July 16, 2020
Source:: Streetwise Reports

Shares of Taiwan Liposome Co. reached a new 52-week high after the company released a manuscript describing how its inhalable liposomal hydroxychloroquine may provide clinical benefit and offer a potential treatment for Covid-19.

Clinical-stage specialty pharmaceutical company Taiwan Liposome Co. Ltd. (TLC:NASDAQ), which is focused on the development of nanomedicines to meet unmet medical needs, today announced that "a pre-print version of a manuscript on TLC's strategy to treat Covid-19 disease with targeted delivery of inhalable liposomal hydroxychloroquine has been made publicly available."

The company explained that "hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is an anti-malarial and anti-inflammatory drug that has been shown to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro and tested in clinical studies." The firm stated that recent clinical studies of orally ingested HCQ have demonstrated inconclusive results though due to the extremely high dosage levels required to achieve effective antiviral levels.

The firm indicated that "the manuscript describes a nonclinical pharmacokinetics study in which, comparing equivalent doses of inhalable liposomal HCQ to intravenous (to represent oral) unformulated HCQ, inhalable liposomal HCQ achieved increased exposure (~30-fold) and half-life (~2.5-fold) in the lungs while also achieving lower blood and heart exposure." The company further advised that an inhalable liposomal formulation of HCQ would require only a tiny fraction of the oral dose in order to achieve sufficient and locally sustained drug exposure in the lungs, thereby reducing systemic and cardiac toxicities frequently observed with higher HCQ oral doses.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese smartphone users watch too many soap operas, play too many games: Ching

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/07/16
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan's smartphone telecom development and environment both rank far ahead of the United States, Far EasTone Telecommunications Co. (遠傳電信股份有限公司) President Chee Ching (井琪) said Thursday (July 17).

Ching joined the Taiwanese telecom operator as president in 2018, after working 23 years at U.S. telecom behemoth AT&T Inc. Far EasTone was the second operator to receive a 5G license in Taiwan, allowing it to start services this month.

She emphasized the importance of the pricing structure for telecom services, CNA reported. As an example, she told the news agency how young people in Taiwan spend lots of time using their smartphones to go online, watching soap operas and playing games instead of expressing their creativity.

While in Taiwan, everyone has already moved to 4G and coverage extends to practically everywhere, in the U.S. many people still use 3G, while different operators cover different parts of the vast country, Ching said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 07/16/2020
By: Frances Huang

Taipei, July 16 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan moved lower Thursday ahead of a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) investor conference scheduled after the market close, dealers said.

With TSMC shares coming under downward pressure as investors locked in profits built in recent sessions, buying rotated to other tech stocks, in particular in the Apple Inc. supply chain, as well as select old economy stocks, which kept the broader market from falling further, they said.

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) or the Taiex closed down 45.11 points, or 0.37 percent, at 12,157.74, after moving between 12,107.04 and 12,220.93, on turnover of NT$197.6 billion (US$6.7 billion).

The market opened down 0.24 percent as investors shrugged off gains posted on the U.S. markets, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 0.85 percent on hopes of COVID-19 vaccine development, dealers said.   [FULL  STORY]

ON THE RIGHT TRACK: The world’s largest contract chipmaker said it should have no problem filling up the vacuum left by Huawei Technologies, its second-largest client

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 17, 2020
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday raised its planned capital expenditure for this year to top US$17 billion, from an original budget of US$15 billion to US$16 billion, as 5G infrastructure deployment and high-computing-performance applications (HPC) drive demand for advanced technologies.

The world’s biggest contract chipmaker also revised up its revenue growth forecast for this year to 20 percent, outpacing the foundry industry’s forecast growth of mid-to-high-teens percent and the overall semiconductor industry’s expected “slight” growth.

In April, TSMC forecast that its revenue would grow by 15 to 19 percent this year.

Due to the US’ restrictions on exports containing US technologies to China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為), TSMC said it has since May 15 stopped taking new orders from its second-biggest customer after Apple Inc.    [FULL  STORY]

Three other dragon economies already reached higher level

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/07/14
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in Taiwan will slowly climb toward US$30,000 (NT$884,000) by 2024, reports said Tuesday (July 14).

According to a “National Development Plan” approved by the National Development Council (NDC) Monday (July 13), the economy will grow by a range between 2.6 percent and 3.4 percent a year for the next four years, the China Times reported.

During the same period, unemployment will hover between 3.5 percent and 3.8 percent, while the GDP per capita will gradually approach the US$30,000 level. The plan mentioned a range from US$29,006 to US$29,584 per capita.

Nevertheless, the other three dragon economies in the region, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore, have all surpassed the US$30,000 average.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 07/14/2020
By: Flor Wang and Wang Shu-fen

Taipei, July 14 (CNA) All Nippon Airways (ANA) will resume flights to Taipei on a reduced schedule early next month, Taipei Songshan Airport confirmed Tuesday.

The airport said it has been notified by the Japanese carrier of its decision to operate two round trip flights per week — on Mondays and Fridays — between Haneda airport in Tokyo and Songshan, starting Aug. 3.

The notice of the partial resumption of flights was posted earlier on ANA's website, after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday that when Japan decides to reopen its borders to a second batch of countries, Taiwan will be included.    [FULL  STORY]

A SEVERE BREACH: The company must assign a third party, such as a securities firm, to handle its shareholder services, the Securities and Futures Bureau said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 15, 2020
By: Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter

The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday announced that it would bar Tatung Co’s (大同) stock affairs division from serving shareholders, as the home appliance maker severely breached shareholders’ rights at its annual general meeting on June 30.

In the next two months, the company must assign a third party, such as a securities firm, to handle the company’s shareholder services, Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director-General Tsai Li-ling (蔡麗玲) told a news conference in New Taipei City.

The commission’s move came amid market speculation that the 102-year-old company could continue conducting its own shareholder services and likely block some shareholders from voting again when it is soon required to hold a new shareholders’ meeting.

Tatung could apply and still submit the shareholder list to the Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corp (TDCC, 台灣集中保管結算所), but the company would have no say on holding the shareholders’ meetings, Tsai said.    [FULL  STORY]

Railway Technology
Date: 13 JULY 2020

The Alstom-led consortium and CTCI have received a €424m contract for the Taipei Metro Line 7 Phase Two extension.

Of the total value of the contract, Alstom’s share is €248m ($280.2m).

In 2018, Alstom won a contract to supply an integrated metro system for Taipei Metro Line 7 phase one.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/07/12
By:  Central News Agency

Taiwan-based EVA Air was rated the world's fourth best international carrier in 2020, one spot up from last year's ranking, according to Travel+ Leisure magazine earlier this week.

The airline scored 85.67 out of 100 to win recognition in cabin comfort, in-flight service, customer service and value, according to the New York-based magazine.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 07/13/2020
By: Han Ting-ting and Ko Lin

Taipei, July 13 (CNA) Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BIO Asia-Taiwan International Conference and Exhibition this year will take the form of a combined onsite and virtual presentation, when it opens on July 22, the organizers said Monday.

The 2020 pharmaceutical and biotechnology trade fair is expected to bring together industry executives and investors from Taiwan and abroad, with some 500 exhibitors at 1,100 booths, according to Taiwan Bio Industry Organization (Taiwan BIO), one of the organizers.

The onsite displays at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center will feature products for smart healthcare and innovative medicine, while exhibitors from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland and Malaysia will have special international pavilions, Taiwan BIO said.    [FULL  STORY]