TAIPEI -- President Wong Chi-huey of Taiwan's top research institute, Academia Sinica, resigned from his post on Wednesday, as his family was caught up in an insider-trading investigation related to OBI Pharma, a local biotech company that trades on the over-the-counter market.

Wong Chi-huey, president of Academia Sinica

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, however, rejected his resignation for now and demanded clarification from Wong.

On March 25, local prosecutors said Wong's daughter, Yuh-shioh, sold some of her OBI shares within the three-month period before the company announced the disappointing outcome of a clinical trial of the company's new drug for breast cancer, though details of her trading remain unclear.

Wong Chi-huey has revealed that he gave money to his daughter for the shares. According to OBI's IPO prospectus in 2014, Wong Yuh-shioh is one of the top 10 shareholders of the company.