Kaohsiung Medical College was established in 1954 by Dr. Tsung-Ming Tu. Kaohsiung Medical College served as an academic center for natural products research in Taiwan cultivating talented people in Taiwan in the field of medicine and natural products.

In 1986, “Natural Products Research Center” was established by Dr. Hsien-Chen Hsieh and in 1992, Ruei-Hsiung Tsai founded the first "Graduate Institute of Natural Products" in Taiwan. So far, Graduate Institute of Natural Products cultivated more than 300 master and doctoral natural products professionals across Taiwan.

Kaohsiung Medical University aims to promote the development of natural products and pharmaceutical biotechnology industries in the country. Moreover, Kaohsiung Medical University is responsible for students’ professional education and skills training. Therefore, "Natural Products Research Center" (currently, the “Graduate Institute of Natural Products”) was developed. Following such a long history of research and development in the field of natural products, the "Research Center for Natural Products and Drug Development"(RCNPDD) was established in 2014.