The number of new drugs listed in a class is nearly one-third of the country, and what Shanghai Zhangjiang has done

As the core bearing area of Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center, Pudong Zhangjiang is focusing on innovation sources and building a biomedical industry cluster.

At the "2021 Shanghai International Biomedical Industry Week - The First Zhangjiang Life Science International Innovation Summit" held on October 12, the Zhangjiang Biomedical Innovation Index was released and the Zhangjiang Cell and Gene Industrial Park was inaugurated.

Shi Qian, director of the Shanghai Institute of Science, said in an interview with First Finance and Economics that the development of the biomedical industry and the biomedical ecosystem deserve attention. "In Zhangjiang, the first multinational pharmaceutical companies came to China, mainly to absorb our human resources, land resource advantages and so on. At this stage of development, these multinational pharmaceutical companies have begun to open up space sharing platforms, and large global enterprises have reached a new stage of innovation. Zhangjiang is also in a new paradigm of open innovation. ”

Official data show that at present, Zhangjiang has gathered more than 1400 biomedical innovation subjects, 7 of the top 10 global pharmaceutical companies settled in Zhangjiang; the top 20 global medicines, set up 9 open innovation centers in Zhangjiang; the number of new drugs cultivated is nearly one-third of the country, and there are currently more than 600 varieties of drugs under development, and 1 class of new drugs accounts for more than 50%; 16 of the nationally approved cell drug clinical trial projects are from Zhangjiang, accounting for nearly 1/3 of the country.

Chen Li, founder and CEO (CEO) of Hua Ling Pharmaceutical, said in an interview with the first financial reporter that the success of entrepreneurship was inseparable from several unique advantages, first of all, Zhangjiang gathered many world-renowned pharmaceutical companies, a number of CROs (ContractResearchOrganiza-tion, generally known as "biomedical R&D outsourcing"), and local pharmaceutical companies in China. Secondly, there are major scientific and technological infrastructure clusters such as Shanghai Light Source, Protein Center, Shanghai Pharmaceutical Institute, And Security Assessment Center, and national platforms. Chen Li said for example, scientific research needs large scientific facilities, and enterprises, scientific research institutions, universities and other elements must form a close exchange and communication, "with the Shanghai light source, we do not have to go to foreign light sources to do experiments." ”

Zhangjiang, which already has a agglomeration effect, how will it lay out biomedicine in the future?

In the "14th Five-Year Plan" of the Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center recently announced, in terms of the three major industrial technology research, the key direction of biomedicine is the field of innovative drugs and vaccine research and development, the field of high-end medical devices, and the field of medical digitalization and intelligence. In the biomedical field of Zhangjiang Science City, the plan shows that the key core technologies are cell therapy and gene therapy, major diagnostic and treatment equipment and core components.

In May this year, Shanghai released the "Several Opinions on Promoting the High-quality Development of the City's Biomedical Industry", which also proposed to enhance the ability to innovate and source sources, and launch the "Zhangjiang R&D + Made in Shanghai" brand and other development directions. For example, build a national science and technology innovation strategic platform, rely on key units to build a national drug science and technology innovation strategic platform, focus on new targets, new sites, new mechanisms, and new molecular entities, strengthen high-level basic research in frontier fields, and strive for the landing of several national major scientific and technological infrastructure and high-level biosafety laboratories.

Wang Kairong, deputy general manager of Shanghai Zhangjiang (Group) Co., Ltd., told First Finance and Economics that the Zhangjiang biomedical industry must serve the national development strategy, which is not only a national independent innovation demonstration zone, but also a comprehensive national science center, and is also located in the modernization leading area. We want to shorten the gap with the industries of international developed countries, so we need to pay more attention to the most cutting-edge areas of the biomedical industry, such as cells and genes.