Shanghai unveils new incentives to boost biopharma industry

Shanghai's strategic blueprint to further elevate the biopharmaceutical industry is being significantly enhanced with new incentives to facilitate innovation and industry exchanges.

Vice Mayor Liu Duo pointed out that introducing latest overseas investment and industry-leading capabilities and encouraging local companies to step up overseas expansion are two major tasks to accelerate the industry's development.

Last year, the total biopharma industry size in Shanghai reached 933.7 billion yuan (US$130 billion) and total industrial output value also climbed steadily to stand at 186 billion yuan.

Speaking at the Shanghai Biopharmaceutical Industry International Development Conference on Monday, Liu said the city aims to become an innovation engine and welcomes leading overseas and local players to set up business and enhance industry exchanges through a wide range of initiatives.

By 2025, the city's target is for the biopharmaceutical industry scale to reach 1 trillion yuan and have over 25 innovative products each with annual sales of over 1 billion yuan.

Ti Gong

Shanghai is pursuing an integrated approach and has formulated a roadmap and systematic incentive policies to establish an industry cluster for both multinationals and local players, according to Luo Dajin, director of the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission.

For innovative medicines and medical devices that gain registration from overseas regulatory authorities, a subsidy covering 30 percent of their research and development expenditure no higher than 10 million yuan will be granted to elevate innovative capabilities.

Guo Shuting, deputy director general of the Shanghai Medical Products Administration, said that latest measures for trade facilitation as well as a white list for R&D materials and medicines will be further upgraded to enhance the overall environment for innovation companies to fully unleash their potential.

Leading multinationals are playing their part to seek mutual benefits in the booming sector.

AstraZeneca on Monday announced that it has elevated Shanghai as its fifth global strategic hub, alongside hubs in the United States, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

"We see Shanghai as a launch pad for Chinese innovation to the world," said Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot, adding that Shanghai is at the heart of its strategic endeavors with continuous efforts to expand its footprint.

To further elevate Shanghai's status as an internationally recognized center for biopharmaceutical innovation, he suggested further leveraging multinationals' capabilities to drive the development of the entire biopharma value chain.

Sharon Barr, executive vice president, BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZenca, also spoke highly of the city's innovative landscape.

"We have witnessed a fantastic collaborative network between academia and biotech which is incredibly productive and continues to grow," she said, adding that its latest initiative fully reflects the contributions of China to the company's global R&D efforts.