Pudong releases blueprint to form biopharma cluster
The 2023 Zhangjiang Life Science International Innovation Summit runs from September 25 to 28.
Pudong is thirsty for leading researchers and industrial giants so as to form a regional high-end biopharma cluster, according to a newly-released blueprint.
Specifically, by the end of 2025, Pudong aims to have 10 leading industrial players, introduce at least three leading scientists and their teams, and build three to five high-level innovation and service platforms.
It also expects to have three to five new listed firms, 50 new startups, and 10 enterprise-run research and development centers at district-level or above.
The ambitious goals were contained in Pudong's action plan to accelerate the construction of a high-end biopharma cluster, which was released at the opening ceremony of the four-day Zhangjiang Life Science International Innovation Summit that opened on Monday.
Anticipated breakthroughs in key technologies and materials, construction of a regional innovation network, more solid institutional guarantees, and other measures were also mentioned.
Local biopharmaceutical companies use the summit as a chance to seek business opportunities.
In 2022, Pudong's biopharma industry scale reached 330 billion yuan (US$45 billion) , and it has produced 15 percent of the country's self-developed drugs and 10 percent of its innovative medical devices.
"Pudong has a leading advantage in biopharma, a first-mover advantage in biological materials, a collaborative advantage in artificial intelligence, and an agglomeration advantage in major science facilities and platforms," said Ling Gang, chief engineer of Pudong's science technology and economy commission.
"For all these reasons, Pudong has provided a fertile land to develop high-end biopharma."
The opening ceremony also saw the launch of the Zhangjiang Synthetic Biology Innovation Center.
Co-founded by China's leading synthetic biologist Zhao Guoping and the Zhangjiang Group, it will feature a biofoundry, an incubator, an angel investment fund, and a new mechanism to promote R&D approval.
Nine new platforms to connect the upstream and downstream industrial chains were also launched.
