With the rapid development of the global biotechnology industry, nucleic acid medicines have emerged as one of the cutting-edge technologies in the biopharmaceutics. In order to promote technical cooperation and experience sharing between Taiwan and the international community, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) is organizing the "2024 APEC Communication Platform for Analytical Technology of mRNA derived Medicinal Products Workshop," which takes place on October 15, 2024 in both physical and virtual formats. This event has been successfully granted by the APEC and brings together experts from health authorities, academia, and the pharmaceutical industry from across the Asia-Pacific region. This workshop focuses on nucleic acid medicine testing techniques, quality control system, and the development of novel nucleic acid medicines, fostering experience and knowledge exchanges among participants. Over 200 participants from various sectors, including government, industry, and academia, have registered for the event.

The workshop features keynote speeches addressing two main topics: "mRNA Vaccines and Quality Control Management" and "mRNA-derived New Medicinal Products and Applications of New Technologies." The speakers are from the Austrian Federal Office for Safety in Health Care, Health Canada, the National Institute of Infectious Disease of Japan, the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research of Singapore, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency of the UK, Academia Sinica, Industrial Technology Research Institute, and the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration. The speakers share their experience in the mRNA vaccine quality control, the stability of nucleic acid medicines, and delivery systems for nucleic acid medicines, aiming to foster knowledge exchange and technical cooperation.

This workshop not only focuses on elevating Taiwan’s capabilities in nucleic acid medicine testing but also aims to align Taiwan’s testing techniques and regulatory standards with international benchmarks, enhancing our competitiveness in the nucleic acid medicine industry. Moreover, the event is expected to promote the harmonization of technical standards across APEC economies, reducing the trade barriers and contributing to the overall advancement of nucleic acid medicine testing technology in the Asia-Pacific region. This, in turn, will accelerate the development and application of nucleic acid medicines.