Striving Together, Upgrading the Biopharma Industry - International Biopharma Industry Week Shanghai 2022 Kicks Off

SHANGHAI, Nov. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 14, the opening ceremony of the second "International Biopharma Industry Week Shanghai" (hereinafter referred to as the "IBIWS 2022") took place in the Shanghai Zhangjiang Science Hall. Themed on "Striving Together, Upgrading the Biopharma Industry", the IBIWS 2022 will last  five days with 1 opening ceremony and about 40 parallel events, in a bid to build a high-caliber international communication platform in the biopharma industry and create an industry event brand with global impact.

Following the guidance of the Shanghai Biopharma Industry Development Steering Group, and hosted by Shanghai Biopharma Industry Promotion Center, the IBIWS 2022 is co-hosted by Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding Co., Ltd., Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd., Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare Co., Ltd., MicroPort Scientific Corporation, E Fund Management Co., Ltd. and Zhangjiang Group, and actively participated by international and domestic innovative champions, first-class scientific research institutes, and top investment institutions.

Adhering to innovation-driven development from a global perspective

At the opening ceremony, top-notch experts and scholars and industry innovators gathered together to share their respective  biopharma practices around the world and reflections on innovation-driven development of the biopharma industry in the context of high-level opening-up.

Approximately 20 domestic and foreign top experts including Dominique Jordan, President of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), Thomas Sudhof, a winner of 2013 Nobel Prize, Akira Fujishima, foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Kaixian CHEN, Hualiang JIANG and Chen DONG, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, joined the ceremony together with over 120 senior executives and investors from Roche Group, Boston Scientific, BeiGene, MSD and other domestic and foreign renowned enterprises.

"Deep biology is a prerequisite for drug development, without basic science, there is nothing to translate." Thomas Sudhof, the winner of 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, noted when reviewing the contemporary translational research of biomedical sciences that the biggest challenge in drug development is to discover druggable targets, "the types of drugs that we can now develop are changing dramatically. They are truly altering the way how we treat diseases."

Biopharma innovation cannot be divorced from global cooperation. Dominique Jordan, President of the FIP, highly recognized Shanghai's status in the international biopharma field, "Our organisations share a vision for everyone to have access to safe, effective, quality and affordable medicines and pharmaceutical care. As part of the pharmaceutical industry in China, you are an important part of this vision."

"Centering on the strong attributes of medicine, science & technology and strategy, and stepping into the future based on the global innovation chain, the industry will embrace a 'golden window period'," said Min XUE, Chairman of United Imaging Healthcare.

Advancing the industrial transformation against the backdrop of digitalization

While empowering the biopharma R&D and production through digitalization, a batch of pioneering enterprises in digital transformation have come to the front. United Imaging Healthcare, MedBot, TopAlliance, Boehringer Ingelheim, Insilico Medicine, Tofflon, Kai Bao Pharmaceutical, and SBPC were granted with the certificate as one of the first batch of pioneering enterprises in digital transformation of the biopharma industry in honor of their excellent results attained in digital transformation.

"People's strong demand for healthcare, unbalanced distribution of medical resources, and low efficiency of medical service are all drivers for the rapid digital transformation and upgrading of healthcare," indicated by Leon WANG, Executive Vice President, International and China President of AstraZeneca.

Guangzhong YANG, a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Founding Dean of the Institute of Medical Robotics at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, shared his thoughts on digital medicine from the three aspects of digital health, digital medical device and digital surgery.

The first batch of pioneering enterprises in digital transformation of the biopharma industry will serve as industry benchmarks to lead the digital transformation and upgrading of the industry. Their advanced experience has also depicted the digital prospects for the biopharma industry development in Shanghai, and will certainly elevate the industry to a new height.

Expediting the integration of industrial chain and innovation chain in the context of industrial upgrading

For the purpose of further enhancing the role of high-level hospitals in Shanghai in driving industrial development, and promoting the integration of industrial chain and innovation chain, the upgraded version of the hospital-industry collaborative innovation platform (HI-CLIP 2.0) was unveiled at the opening ceremony of the IBIWS 2022. While further promoting clinical trials, the platform resolves the "last kilometer" issue about the entry into hospitals of innovative medicine and medical devices, through policy briefings on industry-healthcare integration, an innovation alliance of hospitals and pharmaceutical enterprises, and the green channel for innovative product entry into hospitals.

In the meantime, the awarding ceremony for industry-healthcare collaborative innovation bases in Shanghai was held, with Zhongshan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University and Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine selected as the first batch of bases. The bases serve as a test field for policies on commercialization of hospitals' clinical outcomes, and will effectively translate doctors' brainpower into the driving force of the industry.

How can Shanghai help build a community of common health for mankind in the future? With Wenhong ZHANG, Director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases and Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases of Huashan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University, serving as the moderator, Kaixian CHEN, Hualiang JIANG and Chen DONG, three academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, joined a panel to discuss and analyze the driving force for the development of the biopharma industry in Shanghai and offer advice on Shanghai's building of a biopharma innovation hub.

Building up the "highland" momentum under high-level opening-up

The "highland" momentum of the biopharma industry in Shanghai is not only reflected in the constant iteration and upgrading of the local industry, but also the ripple effect on the surrounding areas and even abroad.

Reinforced industrial policies. This year, Shanghai has successively rolled out a host of far-reaching industrial policies, such as the Regulations of Shanghai's Pudong New Area on Promoting the Development of the Innovation Hub of Zhangjiang Biopharma Industry and the Action Plan for Promoting Technological Innovation and Industrial Development of Cell Therapy. Attracted by such industrial policies, Illumina officially launched its first manufacturing base in China this year, and plans to realize the full localized production of high-end gene sequencers and consumables within five years. "Going forward, Illumina will keep investing and jointly build the new innovation ecosystem of local gene industry, hence contributing to Shanghai's endeavor to develop an internationally influential innovation hub of the biopharma industry", said Qing LI, Senior Vice President of Illumina and General Manager of Illumina China.

Upgraded industrial finance. Shanghai has continuously optimized its investment and financing environment, ranking the first in terms of both the financing scale of the primary market and the number of enterprises listed on the STAR Market. With 26 biopharma enterprises listed on the STAR Market, Shanghai ranks top nationwide.

Expanded talent pool. As an international authority in photocatalysis, Akira Fujishima, a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and photocatalysis scientist, has joined the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology on a full-time basis, fully manifesting the strong attraction to overseas high-caliber talents. He noted that Shanghai has been doing very well in attracting international high-level technology talents, "I believe that like me, more scientists will be willing to work and live in Shanghai in the future."

Fine-tuned spatial layout. The "1+5+X" industrial layout has been made more solid. This year, Shanghai released the industrial map 2022, further optimizing the layout of the "3+6" new-type industrial system. In the biopharma field, Shanghai has brought out 7 specialized industrial parks, such as Life Science Blue Bay, Oriental Beauty Valley and Bay Area Biopharma Port. These industrial parks cover a total area of 42 square kilometers, with 12,000 mu (or 800 hectares) of industrial land, and 5.7 million square meters of leasable and saleable property, thus ensuring that "good projects and industries can access sufficient land and space".

The four defining advantages, namely innovation-driven development, digital upgrading, integration and transformation, and highland momentum, will shore up the Shanghai Vision for 2025 that the output value of the biopharma manufacturing industry will amount to 240 billion yuan and the size of the biopharma industry will top 1 trillion yuan. These figures reveal the sincere commitment of industry peers for the biopharma development. The opening ceremony has brought together representative enterprises in all important links of the biopharma industrial chain, including leading multinationals in the industry, sophisticated listed SOEs and forward-looking, innovative private enterprises, which jointly launched the unveiling ceremony of "Biopharma Shanghai Vision". As role models of the industry, they will contribute to realizing the Shanghai Vision at an early date.

"Aiming high and scaling new heights". The high-quality development of the biopharma industry in Shanghai will effectively promote people's health and well-being, and contribute "Shanghai Wisdom" and "Shanghai Strength" to the Chinese path to modernization and to building a community of common health for mankind!

SOURCE Shanghai Biomedical Industry Promotion Center