TaiGen Received Funding for Anti-SARS Drug Discovery and Development From The Executive Yuan, Republic of China

29-Oct-2003

TAIPEI, Taiwan - TaiGen biotechnology Co., Ltd. announced the signing of an agreement with and receiving the research funding of NT$ 29.5 MM ($890,000 USD) from The Executive Yuan, Republic of China for the discovery and development of drugs against the coronavirus that causes SARS. The funding will support 50% of the total cost that TaiGen budgeted for the first year. Future funding of the 6-year research and development proposal will depend on the progress made. In July 2003, TaiGen initiated a structure-base drug discovery program targeting at SARS virus 3CL protease. A multi-disciplined team has been assembled to tackle the deadly disease, including an x-ray crystallography group at Academia Sinica, a medicinal chemistry team from Industrial Technology Research Institutes (ITRI) and the SARS virus laboratory at Cheng Gung Memorial Hospital. Dr. Ming-Chu Hsu, President & CEO of TaiGen, said, "As a responsible corporate citizen, TaiGen feels obligated to use our expertise and experience in anti-viral research to fight SARS, the deadly disease that paralyzed Asia and other areas of the world this summer. We are very pleased to receive the funding from The Executive Yuan. Since the starting of our discovery effort in July 2003, the project team has made significant progress, including design and synthesis of highly potent 3CL protease inhibitors and obtaining the X-ray structure of the protease. The government has put a tremendous effort to control the spread of the disease during the last outbreak and is continuing its effort in disease control and development of vaccine and therapeutics. TaiGen is proud to be part of the concerted effort."

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