PharmaEssentia Partners with Japan's TECH-Tokyo to Host the Inaugural "PharmaEssentia Innovation Award"

Launching in March - Supporting Biomed Startups on the Path to Global Markets

Taipei, Taiwan, March 29, 2026–PharmaEssentia Corporation (TWSE: 6446), a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Taiwan with deep expertise in the development of novel biologics for hematology and oncology, announced today that, to actively nurture biotech and healthcare startup teams with strong global commercialization potential, it is officially launching the "PharmaEssentia Innovation Award" this year. The inaugural “PharmaEssentia Innovation Award” will be held in collaboration with Japan’s well-known innovation platform TECH Tokyo and will simultaneously invite biomed startup teams in Taiwan and Japan to participate—promoting Taiwan–Japan biotech and healthcare innovation collaboration and accelerating breakthrough biomed innovation technologies and products toward global markets.

Application for the inaugural "PharmaEssentia Innovation Award" is live starting today. The Grand Prize offers USD $100,000, and the total prize pool amounts to USD $200,000. PharmaEssentia stated that the award not only provides R&D funding encouragement, but also places greater emphasis on helping startup teams build substantive connections with international biopharmaceutical companies. Through strategic partnership, the introduction of industry resources, and experience sharing, PharmaEssentia Innovation Award aims to promote cutting-edge technology exchange and accelerate startup technologies toward clinical development and global commercialization.

PharmaEssentia explained, with the rapid development of the global pharmaceutical industry, innovation in the biotech industry is no longer limited to the internal R&D of a single company; instead, there are increasing opportunities arising from cross-disciplinary and cross-border collaboration networks. Upholding the philosophy of "build connections, enable collaboration, and drive innovation," the "PharmaEssentia Innovation Award" is intended to create a cross-border platform that connects academic research capabilities, startup momentum, and international industry resources for exchange and value enhancement, and to lay the foundation for potential future strategic collaborations.

The "PharmaEssentia Innovation Award" focuses on strategic areas that are highly aligned with the Company’s core R&D direction and global footprint, and it invites startup teams with breakthrough therapeutic innovation potential to participate. The call for submissions covers innovative drug R&D in hematology, oncology, rare diseases, and autoimmune diseases; technology platforms that leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to accelerate drug discovery and development; and ex vivo or in vivo cell therapy technology platforms.

The reviewing panel includes leading experts from Harvard University in the United States as well as from industry, government, academia, and research institutions in Taiwan and Japan. Areas of expertise will cover hematology, oncology, and immunology. With both outstanding academic achievement and practical industry experience, the panel will help ensure that evaluations take into account scientific innovation, clinical application value, and global market development potential.

PharmaEssentia stated that the inaugural "PharmaEssentia Innovation Award" looks forward to working with TECH Tokyo to jointly promote Taiwan–Japan connections across diverse areas in innovative R&D, academic exchange, and industry application, and to further develop concrete and long-term strategic collaboration opportunities. Going forward, the program is also planned to be expanded to invite startup teams from more countries to participate, continuing to bring innovative treatment options to patients worldwide while comprehensively enhancing the international visibility and impact of Taiwan's biotech industry.

For more information on the registration for the "PharmaEssentia Innovation Award," please visit:

https://tech-tokyo.org/pharmaessentiainnovationaward2026/

PharmaEssentia Innovation Award Contact

Annie Lin

Email: annie_lin@pharmaessentia.com

About TECH-Tokyo

The Technology Exchange and Collaboration Hub in Tokyo (TECH-Tokyo G.K.) is dedicated to connecting world-renowned university faculty and researchers, entrepreneurs, and Japanese companies, entrepreneurs, investors, and academic institutions. TECH-Tokyo facilitates innovation and applying scientific knowledge through long-term program series—covering presentations, lectures, workshops, networking, guest speakers, competitions and more. TECH-Tokyo aims to foster robust collaborations through licensing, partnerships, investments into university spinoffs, and sponsored research, as well as to facilitate academic exchange and executive education.

For more information about TECH-Tokyo, please visit the website.

About PharmaEssentia

PharmaEssentia USA Corporation, located in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a subsidiary of PharmaEssentia Corporation (TWSE: 6446). PharmaEssentia Corporation, headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, is a global and rapidly growing biopharmaceutical innovator and the developer and owner of BESREMi® (ropeginterferon alfa-2b-njft). Leveraging deep expertise and proven scientific principles, PharmaEssentia aims to deliver effective new biologics for challenging diseases in the areas of hematology, oncology, and immunology with one approved product and a diversifying pipeline. Founded in 2003 by a team of Taiwanese-American executives and renowned scientists from U.S. biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, today PharmaEssentia is expanding its global presence with operations in the U.S., Japan, China, and Korea, along with a world-class biologics production facility in Taichung, Taiwan.

For more information about PharmaEssentia, please visit the website.