The importance of Incrementalism (gradual / accumulated / evolutionism) – a lot of things seem to occur in an instant, but the preparatory process is often lengthy and lonely. Unfortunately, last year’s chaos and anxiety have carried over to this year. At the end of 2021, we want to offer some ideas, philosophies and perspectives to each of the forum participants.

“Eureka may last only an instant, but it may be bright enough to illuminate a millennium.” Regarding the curatorial concept of the conference this year, our fellow worker who is about to become a patent attorney in the U.S. said: “Flash of Genius!” The other colleagues looked puzzled at him. He yelled excitedly and explained that it was a movie about patent lawsuits. The plot revolves around a Detroit professor and inventor Kearns, who spent 12 years over a patent infringement lawsuit against the Ford Motor Company. The film also echoes the three most important and indispensable elements of biomedical entrepreneurship: patents, clinical practice, and regulations.

The founding of Genentech in 1976 by the late venture capitalist Robert A. Swanson and biochemist Dr. Herbert W. Boyer has been regarded as the starting point of the biotechnology industry. The most recent All-Star in 2020-2021 has been Moderna (listed in December 2018, with a current market value exceeding USD$60 billion). As soon as Moderna was established in 2010, it had been very mindful of accumulation of technology and patents to avoid the issue of patent disputes. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic which has swept the globe, Moderna took just one month to complete the mRNA sequence design for COVID-19 vaccine as well as a vaccine production plan. Another 60 days was required to go from the mRNA sequence design to administering the vaccine to the first test subject. Within one year, the company submitted applications and obtained the FDA emergency use authorization documents. While everyone is in awe of the company’s technical advancement, ability to meet market demands, and speed of rise, what we have observed is the foresight of the venture capital company Flagship Pioneering ten years ago, which discovered the immense commercial value of technology. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the fruits of today’s vaccine development.

Conversely, our country does not regard healthcare as an industry. Even though the policy-makers hope to create a business settlement similar to that in Boston, where a large portion of the city is filled with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies as well as innovative medical biotechnical settlements. However, the investment strategy still regards healthcare as a type of infrastructure, just like Mass Rapid Transit and High Speed Rail that offer fast and cheap service, long operating hours, and are accessible social welfare benefits. The healthcare service in Taiwan under the National Health Insurance is cheap, fast, with long operating hours, and without any commercial considerations.

The two different attitudes lead to two completely different futures for the practitioners. The investment of high value-added industries, which focus on entrepreneurship, may lead to both fame and fortune, and the professionals may become industry leaders through technical knowledge transfers, just like the story of Modern that we have just learned. However, the existing National Health Insurance turns the most brilliant social elite into overworked slaves. We have a hard time imagining what types of industry with high international visibility we will have in another ten years that allow us to connect with the global community.