Innovation zone plays key role in Shanghai’s pharma prowess
Zhangjiang biomedical manufacturing firms report over 71 billion yuan of industrial output in 2017
Shanghai’s Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone has become a vital component of the city’s effort to support pharmaceutical and medical industry development.
Biomedical manufacturing businesses in the demonstration zone reported 71.7 billion yuan ($10.28 billion) in terms of overall industrial output value in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 5.1 percent. The net profit was 12.12 billion yuan, an increase of 9.2 percent yearon-year, according to zone officials.
In addition, Shanghai’s pharmaceutical industry accounted for 3.1 percent of the whole industry’s national operating income last year. And 76 percent of Shanghai’s total was contributed by businesses in the demonstration zone.
The biomedical manufacturing industry in the zone also contributed 67.2 percent of that sector’s overall manufacturing industrial output value in Shanghai last year.
By the end of 2017, Zhangjiang demonstration zone was home to 207 large-scale biopharmaceutical companies, accounting for 56.9 percent of the total in Shanghai. A great number of multinational pharmaceutical giants, including Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb, have launched operation in the zone. Some companies are developing more R&D or production facilities in Zhangjiang. For instance, Roche plans to open a new innovation center in 2019.
Chemically synthesized drugs, traditional Chinese medicines, biopharmaceuticals and medical device manufacturing are four key segments in the zone.
Chemically synthesized drugs — as opposed to biopharmaceutical drugs extracted or semi-synthesized from living biological sources — are taking a lead in terms of total industrial output value, operatting income, net profits and the number of businesses, according to officials. The industrial output value of the segment in the zone was 30.13 billion yuan in 2017.
The industrial output vaue of the biopharmaceutical segment reached 11 billion yuan in 2017.
The overall industrial output value of the medical devices segment was 12.8 billion yuan in 2017.
Official statistics show that TCM businesses in the zone reported 9.15 billion yuan in overall industrial output value last year.
In terms of the number of enterprises, there were 50 chemical drug manufacturers, 19 TCM manufacturers, 39 biopharmaceutical manufacturers and 49 medical device manufacturers in the Zhangjiang demonstration zone in 2017.
The strength of R&D among the biopharmaceutical innovation companies in the Zhangjiang demonstration zone has clearly put it in a leading position in the sector in China.
The demonstration zone maintained a strong momentum in promoting innovation last year. A total of 146 projects developed in the zone are now moved to publicize their clinical trial results.
Shanghai reformed its drugapproval system in 2017 by piloting a marketing authorization holder mechanism.
Under the marketing authorization holder system, which is widely adopted in developed markets, drug companies’ marketing and production processes are separated. A marketing authorization holder can outsource its production process to different pharmaceutical companies.
By the end of last year, 33 businesses in the city had submitted 92 applications. Most of those businesses were from the zone, according to its administrators.
In 2017, there were 72 fundraising and investment activities in the demonstration zone, accounting for 65.5 percent of the total in Shanghai. Of that total, the Zhangjiang core park, one of 22 industrial parks operated by the demonstration zone, reported 41 cases. A total of 17 among the 72 cases had investments worth more than 100 million yuan each, mainly targeted at biopharmaceutical and some specific service sectors. Investors also showed strong interest in the medical information and equipment development sectors, according to the zone.