In the 1980s, while the world was making strides in integrating chips with various analyses such as biochemical operations, Taiwan’s information and communication technology (ICT) industry was just starting to flourish. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the government of Taiwan began promoting biotechnology policies, and it was around the same time that ITRI started developing advanced biochips capable of analyzing genes or proteins in living organisms and processing vast amounts of information within short periods.

In 2000, ITRI introduced fever chips and gene chips and continuously improved biochip manufacturing process-related technologies, including substrate preparation, surface treatment, and microelectromechanical processing technologies. In the following year, ITRI rolled out 41 patented technologies including fever chips, and successfully reduced biochip costs by 90% with a new biochip manufacturing technology platform.

In 2002, ITRI facilitated the founding of a startup company named Phalanx Biotech, which targeted the global biochips OEM market. In 2003, ITRI and Phalanx Biotech completed the testing of Taiwan’s first self-developed high-density liver gene microarray chip.

To promote the clinical applications of biochips and integrate the supply chain of the biochip industry, in 2006, ITRI founded a biochip clinical application alliance with Phalanx Biotech, ScinoPharm Taiwan, Ever Sharp Technology, Welmore, E&R Engineering, and KAIWOOD Technology. This alliance vertically integrated the R&D service industry, creating new business opportunities for Taiwan’s biomedical industry. In 2016, ITRI facilitated the establishment of a startup company called Caduceus Biotechnology, which specialized in developing microarray biochip scanners. Caduceus Biotechnology combined the forces of domestic and international biochip manufacturing companies, aiming at the global market of high-density biochip scanners.