Notice on the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Taipei Medical University

DCT Japan Co., Ltd. (Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Shinsuke Muto; hereinafter " DCT Japan ") and Taipei Medical University (Location: Taipei, Taiwan; President: 吳麥斯; hereinafter "Taipei Medical University") have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to start collaboration in the fields of Decentralized Clinical Trial (hereinafter "DCT") ("DCT"), home healthcare and medical data platforms.

Background and objectives of the collaboration

In Taiwan's super-aging society, where more than 20% of the population is expected to be aged 65 or over by 2025, similar to countries such as Japan, Germany and France, and 35% by 2050, home healthcare is an area of focus for the Taiwanese government, and the National Health Insurance Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare ("NHIA”) has expanded the scope of home healthcare and piloted home hospitalization (Hospital At Home, HAH)) from July 1st, 2024.

Meanwhile, NHIA has expanded the scope of implementation of telemedicine, including online medical services and vital sign measuring devices with communication functions, in order to strengthen home healthcare services.
Decentralized Clinical Trials (“DCT”) in Taiwan begins to elicit huge interest among pharmaceutical companies, particularly for rare diseases and cancers. Likewise, hospitals with experiences in executing traditional “hospital-based” clinical trials exhibit interest in learning and implementing DCTs.

The aim of this collaboration is to utilize the experience and infrastructure of DCT Japan, which has conducted multiple DCTs in Japan, to establish a DCT infrastructure in Taiwan, based on TMU’s newly unified Health Information System within its three collective 3,000-bed affiliated hospitals serving 6.5 million population in the Taipei Metropolitan area.

Photo at the MOU signing ceremony at Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan (Fourth from the left: DCT Japan CEO: Dr. Shinsuke Muto. Fourth from the right: Taipei Medical University President: Dr. Mai-Szu Wu.)

Through this collaboration, DCT Japan and Taipei Medical University will jointly establish workflow, set up quality management systems, train DCT talents, and work with domestic regulators. The collective aim is to invite Japanese and global pharmaceutical companies to conduct DCTs in Taiwan.

Additional aims of this collaboration will encompass the fields of home healthcare services and health data platforms. Both sides will deepen collaboration to build a bridge between Japan and Taiwan by holding opinion and information exchange meetings between experts and government officials in Japan and Taiwan, studying the introduction of Japanese know-how and infrastructure, and providing training for Taiwanese healthcare professionals.