The Challenge: Taking a Taiwan CDMO to International Drug Developers
Founded in 2010, Amaran develops and manufactures drugs for other companies at a plant in the Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park that has held Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification since 2017. Its services run from process development and drug substance manufacturing to analytical testing and aseptic fill-finish. In 2022 it installed a fully automated robotic filling line for vials, pre-filled syringes and cartridges, which it describes as the first in Taiwan.
By 2023 Amaran wanted to grow beyond the clients it already served, in Taiwan first and then in Europe, the US and Japan. That meant meeting drug developers at international trade shows and showing them quickly why a Taiwanese CDMO deserved their next project.
Amaran’s brand gave it little help. The company introduced itself with the motto “Work Locally. Think and Act Globally.” Its logo used more than four colors, which made consistent printing hard, and its large, colorful A could make the name read as “MARAN.” The brief was a brand that states Amaran’s advantages and values clearly and looks the same everywhere.
For the signs that a company has outgrown its brand, see When Is the Right Time for Brand Rebranding?
What We Found
Between November 2023 and January 2024 we interviewed Amaran’s chairperson and seven managers, from plant operations and manufacturing to business development, finance, information technology and human resources. A survey of 46 employees added the staff’s view, and interviews with four of Amaran’s clients gave the buyer’s side. We also reviewed eight Taiwanese competitors and the taglines of 28 drug makers and CDMOs worldwide, from WuXi Biologics to Lonza.
- Managers and clients lead with the plant. Asked what sets Amaran apart, both groups named the robotic filling line first.
- Staff saw a different strength. In the survey, 69.5% of employees named “total solution” as a strength, the highest share of the eight options. The automated equipment came last, at 21.7%.
- Clients value how Amaran works. They praised its customized service and a transparent process with real-time feedback, and noticed the commitment of senior management.
- “Total solution” is a crowded claim. Several Taiwanese CDMOs already call themselves a total solution or a one-stop shop. Amaran needed proof that made its version believable.
- The culture is quick and international. Staff described Amaran as flexible and international in style, and wanted the brand to feel young and energetic, like a start-up.
These findings shaped the strategy: keep the total-solution promise that staff believe in, and prove it with what managers and clients see first, the robotic line and the team behind it.
What We Did
We worked in stages for almost two years: brand strategy first, then a new visual identity, its rollout and staff training, and finally the content and design of Amaran’s new website. Amaran already knew our work: in 2022 our video team had made its corporate film.
Brand Strategy: A Total CDMO Solution, With Proof
We positioned Amaran as “Your Total CDMO Solution,” a partner for companies developing new drugs. Four pillars carry the proof: Cutting-Edge Technology, built on the robotic line; Agility, for flexible, customized projects; a SWAT Team of experienced specialists; and the Energetic spirit staff described in the survey.
The position we wrote
Your Total CDMO Solution
| From | To | |
|---|---|---|
| Position | A contract manufacturer known mainly to its existing clients | “Your Total CDMO Solution” for companies developing new drugs |
| Markets | Mainly Taiwan | Taiwan first, then Europe, the US and Japan |
| Tagline | “Work Locally. Think and Act Globally.” | “Formulating the Future, Producing Success.” |
The brand promise reads: “Advancing drug innovation through high-tech CDMO services. Our elite team ensures efficient project execution, transforming ideas into life-changing drugs.” We also wrote a new vision and mission and a four-part brand story, and set out six culture values whose initials spell the company’s name: Adventurous, Mastering, Advanced, Reliable, Agile and Navigating.
The tagline ties what a CDMO does every day, formulating and producing medicines, to what its clients are after: a future for their drug and commercial success.
Visual Identity: A Purple Wordmark With a Drop in the A
The new logo is a wordmark: “Amaran” in deep purple, with “Biotech” in gray. A drop-shaped space inside the A stands for Amaran’s core work of filling drugs, and for water as the source of life. The purple sets Amaran apart from the blue and green common in medical technology.
Four gradients bring in the energy staff asked for, each with a keyword: gentle (pink-purple), organic (lake green), vitality (warm orange) and innovation (purple-blue). Six wave graphics, which the brand book describes as the brand’s fluid personality, “like the water of life,” echo the drop in the logo, and four icons stand for the four pillars. A bilingual brand book sets out how to use them.
Rollout: From Business Cards to Brand Training
We designed the tools staff use every day: English and Chinese business cards, letterhead, envelopes, staff and visitor badges, an email signature, PowerPoint templates, LinkedIn and YouTube cover images, LinkedIn post templates and roll-up backgrounds. An A4 flyer and a tri-fold brochure followed, and we put the new logo into Amaran’s corporate film, in English and Japanese versions.
On November 13, 2024, we ran a brand training of about three hours for Amaran’s core staff. It covered why a brand matters for a company like Amaran, what the research found, the strategy itself and how to use the new identity, with exercises along the way.
Website: Eight Pages in Two Languages
In 2025 we planned and designed Amaran’s new website: eight pages with the same structure in English and Traditional Chinese, laid out for desktop, tablet and phone. We rewrote the company copy around the strategy and wrote the brand story in both languages. The new site went live in July 2025.
Corporate Film: Where the Relationship Began
In 2022, before any brand work, we made Amaran’s corporate film for sales meetings and trade shows such as INTERPHEX JAPAN and BIO Asia-Taiwan. Shot at the Hsinchu plant with English and Japanese voice-over, the film runs just under three minutes. It follows the company from its history to its manufacturing today, including its work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Project Timeline
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| April to July 2022 | Corporate film |
| October 2023 | Brand strategy project begins |
| November 2023 to January 2024 | Interviews, employee survey, competitor and tagline review |
| February 2024 | Brand strategy, tagline and brand story delivered |
| March 2024 | Identity and rollout phase begins |
| September 2024 | New logo approved |
| October to November 2024 | Applications delivered; film updated with the new logo |
| November 13, 2024 | Brand training |
| January to February 2025 | Bilingual brand book and brochure delivered |
| January to July 2025 | Website content and design |
| July 2025 | New website live; new identity presented at BIO Asia-Taiwan |
Results
Amaran still uses the brand we built.
The brand at work:
- Amaran’s homepage. The website, built from our design, opens with “Formulating the Future, Producing Success,” followed by the first line of the brand promise: “Advancing drug innovation through high-tech CDMO services.” The site presents Amaran as “Your Total CDMO Solution,” the position we wrote.
- Trade shows. Amaran’s printed ad for BIO Asia-Taiwan 2024 and its flyer for its first BioJapan, in Yokohama in October 2024, both carried the new tagline before the new logo was ready. In July 2025, GeneOnline reported that Amaran would present its new brand identity, officially adopted that year, at BIO Asia-Taiwan 2025.
- A returning client. Amaran has hired Geber four times since 2022, from the corporate film to the website.
The business since the rebrand:
The business since the rebrand
- ~30% Revenue growth in 2024, as reported by GeneOnline
- 3 Biopharma industry awards from IMAPAC in 2025
- Dec 2025 The US FDA acknowledged Amaran’s Type II DMF for its AB-801 vaccine adjuvant
- Growth. GeneOnline reported in July 2025 that Amaran’s revenue grew by nearly 30% in 2024.
- New partners. In March 2025 Amaran signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Japan’s Nippon Fine Chemical and its Taiwan subsidiary, covering CDMO work on liposomes and lipid nanoparticles.
- Awards. In 2025 Amaran won Bioprocessing Excellence in Taiwan at the Asia-Pacific Biopharma Excellence Awards, Best CDMO in Automated Aseptic Filling at the Taiwan Biopharma Excellence Awards, and Best Fill-Finish at the Asia-Pacific Biologics CDMO Excellence Awards, all organized by IMAPAC. It won Bioprocessing Excellence in Taiwan again in March 2026.
- A US regulatory milestone. In December 2025 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acknowledged Amaran’s Type II Drug Master File (DMF) for its AB-801 vaccine adjuvant. Amaran says this makes it the first adjuvant supplier in Taiwan with such an acknowledgment.
Is your company better than its brand suggests? Many Taiwanese manufacturers lead their category and still introduce themselves as a supplier. Talk to us about closing that gap.
