Hangzhou grants US$4.6 million for pharmaceutical innovation

Hangzhou government has awarded up to 30 million yuan (US$4.6 million) for the development and research of first-class innovative medicines and up to 12 million yuan for the upgrading of such treatments.

The grants are in line with the State Council's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) which boosts biopharmaceutical science and targets the building of a group of national bio-pharmaceutical laboratories across the country.

Hangzhou is encouraging more companies to cooperate with local hospitals in clinical trials and study through CRO (contract research organization), CMO (contract manufacture organization), and CDMO (contract development manufacture organization).

If a product is granted the National Registration Certificate for Medical Device for the first time, local departments will subsidize it up to 6 million yuan according to its original R&D expenditure.

If the fixed-asset investment of a pharmaceutical project surpasses 200 million yuan, Hangzhou will subsidize up to 20 percent of the total investment, aiming to accelerate the speed of commercialization.

Software companies building online platforms for medical registration, intellectual property trade and pubic medical services are also included in the new policy.

If evaluated by government as a key platform, the company will be granted up to 18 million yuan. Others will be awarded up to 1 million yuan.

With the pharmaceutical industry highly dependent on policies, Hangzhou hopes to become one of the sector's hubs in China by launching attractive subsidies.

In recent years, companies with a capacity to develop original drugs have been emerging in the city.

Betta Pharmaceuticals, a listed company founded by several PhD graduates who returned from the US, produced and developed China's first home-grown anti-cancer targeted drug. The medicine received a patent in 2007 and was launched on the market as Conmana in 2011.

During the first half of 2020, Conmana led the Chinese market with cumulative sales reaching 924 million yuan, benefiting more than 250,000 lung cancer patients.