Biopharma sector needs more incentives to grow, delegates say
For Shanghai to achieve further growth in strategic industries like biopharmaceuticals, innovative enterprises should be better incentivized, political advisers said at the ongoing Two Sessions.
Members of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang's Shanghai Committee pointed out that the supply of major raw materials and facilities for biopharma production continue to be dependent on foreign sources.
The lack of an integrated service provider is also a drawback for startups to make breakthroughs, they added.
The city should target incentives towards emerging small and micro firms and consider setting up a biopharma manufacturing innovation center to facilitate technology transfer and development of industry standards.
Shanghai's rising labor and service costs have pushed some cell therapy providers to relocate their manufacturing to neighbouring provinces, said Chen Qiyu, executive director and co-CEO of Fosun International and a member of the Shanghai Committee of the China Democratic League.
He proposed targeted measures such as pilot policies to allow the city to keep up with the international standards of their overseas counterparts.
Mechanisms should be set up to facilitate collaboration between research institutions and allow clinical application of latest treatment options, he said.
And medical insurance authorities should consider assessing the medical value of effective innovative treatments and include them in the Huhuibao budget supplementary medical insurance plan.
Wang Dehui, vice president of Shanghai Eye and ENT Hospital, Fudan University, suggested a closer connection between hospitals and clinical studies.
Shanghai could also follow the pilot scheme in Boao, Hainan Province, where innovative treatment can be prescribed for patients to resolve urgent medical demands, Wang added.