Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA)'s Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT) announced on November 8 the world's first dual-target eyedrop for glaucoma and wet macular degeneration. This new eyedrop can treat wet macular degeneration without resorting to intraocular injections. Funded by the MOEA Science and Technology R&D Program, ITRI established Taiwan's first Ophthalmic Technology Platform, paving the way to develop drugs and delivery systems for glaucoma and wet macular degeneration.

This technology fosters three breakthroughs. First, within six months after the tech transfer, Metagone Biotech Inc. advanced the drug to clinical trials. Second, the transfer's worth is more than NT$100 million, setting a new record in the history of ophthalmic tech transfer to a corporate enterprise. In the first year following the transfer, the total fee of transfer has amounted to tens of millions of NT dollars, also a new high. Lastly, this is the first successful result yielded from the Ophthalmic Technology Platform.

These breakthroughs may strengthen Taiwan's ophthalmic drug development capacities and create an integrated supply chain. The product is expected to be launched in 2025 at the earliest, benefiting at least 350,000 patients domestically and capturing 5% of the global ophthalmic drug market valued at US$1.5 billion. This will boost Taiwan's biomedical industry while giving rise to Taiwan becoming a hub of innovation for ophthalmic drugs.