Biopharma week to begin in Shanghai with innovative research, equipment

The International Biopharma Industry Week Shanghai 2023, which will run from October 16 to 20, is expected to boost the development of biomedicine in the city and enhance technological and product innovation, and advance growth of the industry, local officials told a news conference on Saturday.

It's the third straight year that the city has been holding the industry week, which will consist of one high-level opening event and some 40 subforums and industry activities, according to Wu Jincheng, director of the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Informatization.

Over 1,000 officials, scientists, experts, company leaders, investors and industry insiders will come to Shanghai for the industry week.

As a highlight of this year's event, a Central Asia-China high-end biopharma exhibition will be launched in Kyrgyzstan, the first overseas event of the industry week.

The exhibition will focus on biomedicine and advanced medical equipment, sharing the latest scientific achievements and academic research, supporting Chinese enterprises to go overseas and improving the global influence of the industry week.

This year is the 30th anniversary of Shanghai announcing the biopharma as a key industry.

Over the past 30 years, the industry has grown in scale. The city's biopharma industry output has risen from less than 5 billion yuan (US$685 million) to nearly 200 billion yuan, reaching 900 billion yuan in total business.

Shanghai is the biomedical hub of the nation. Over 80 percent of the top 20 medical appliance giants in the world have their regional or production and manufacturing centers in Shanghai. Sixteen of the top 20 Chinese companies have their presence in Shanghai, which is home to over 1,400 biomedical companies and over 100 professional service platforms.

Multiple research has been achieved in life science, epigenetics, synthetic biology, genetic editing and cell therapy, and articles published in major journals like Cell, Nature and Science.

During the industry week, Shanghai will announce action plans stimulating synthetic biology, gene therapy and medical robots, officials told the news conference.