Economic Daily Front Page: Changchun City Accelerates Development of the Biopharmaceutical and Life Health Industries

The picture shows the interior of the protein fermentation workshop at Changchun Jinsai Pharmaceutical. (Reference image)

Recently held, the Jilin Changchun City Biopharmaceutical and Life Health Industry Chain Work Dispatch Meeting revealed that by 2025, the city’s biopharmaceutical and life health industry scale will reach 121.2 billion yuan, becoming an important growth pole for high-quality economic and social development.

Changchun is one of the first three nationally recognized biopharmaceutical industry bases, creating many “China Firsts” such as full-virus influenza vaccines and live attenuated varicella vaccines. It is home to numerous research institutions including the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Changchun Institute of Chemical Physics, as well as dozens of universities and colleges like Jilin University and Changchun University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and innovative teams led by many medical and health-related academicians. Three years ago, the biopharmaceutical and life health industries were included in the city’s “Top 4” main development sectors.

In recent years, Changchun has issued relevant documents to support the introduction of major projects, fund investments, new drug R&D, high-end medical device R&D, drug marketing authorization holder entrusted manufacturing, platform construction, and high-end talent gathering. Among these, in supporting major project introduction, Changchun provides subsidies of 10% to 30% of the fixed asset investment amount for projects with a total fixed asset investment generally not less than 200 million yuan in the biopharmaceutical and life health fields. For new drug R&D, support is given at 40% of actual R&D expenses for biopharmaceuticals, traditional Chinese medicine, innovative drugs, and reformulated new drugs.

As a pharmaceutical company focused on innovative drug development in major disease areas, Changchun Jinsai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. has built a comprehensive health screening, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment chain covering women and children’s health, launching more than 30 key products with annual sales exceeding 10 billion yuan. Chairman Jiang Yuntao stated that the company has maintained positive growth in R&D investment for 12 consecutive years, and will continue to increase R&D funding this year.

Liu Baofang, Deputy Director of the Jilin Provincial Department of Science and Technology, introduced that the department always prioritizes technological innovation in the medical and health industry,坚持推动“有组织科研+有组织成果转化” (promoting organized scientific research + organized achievement transformation), and promotes deep integration of technological and industrial innovation.

Entering Changchun Baike Biotechnology Co., Ltd., one can see the efficient operation of the intelligent production line, with laboratory staff focused on relevant testing. In 2023, the company’s shingles attenuated live vaccine was officially launched. Besides this product, the company also has three approved vaccines: varicella attenuated live vaccine, lyophilized nasal spray influenza attenuated live vaccine, and nasal spray influenza attenuated live vaccine (liquid form). Currently, the company is actively advancing work on 16 key ongoing projects to form strong synergy and build a differentiated technological moat.

The growth and development of each enterprise promote the formation of a cluster-driven breakthrough in the entire industry. “By the end of last year, Changchun New Area gathered about 940 enterprises in pharmaceutical manufacturing, R&D, testing, and other fields, with the entire industry chain exceeding 50 billion yuan,” said Li Guangming, Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Changchun New Area. The area hosts 30 above-scale pharmaceutical companies including Jinsai Pharmaceutical, Baike Bio, Shengboma Biotech, and Dirui Medical, along with 80 high-tech pharmaceutical enterprises and 77 specialized, refined, and innovative enterprises, demonstrating strong industry competitiveness in biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, modern Chinese medicine, and pharmaceutical trade and circulation.

It is reported that Changchun New Area actively implements policies from higher authorities and strengthens cooperation with relevant departments of the Jilin Provincial Drug Administration. It has set up special service windows for change registration at the district government service center to shorten review and registration cycles for drug and medical device approvals and changes. The local government also helps solve enterprise development issues through one-on-one guidance at the New Area’s Medical Device Innovation Service Station, green channels, and other measures, continuously enhancing the attractiveness of enterprise settlement.

According to previous plans, Changchun aims to double the scale of its biopharmaceutical and life health industries by 2030 compared to 2025, entering the top tier of the national biopharmaceutical industry. Currently, the Yongchun Pharmaceutical City project in southern Changchun is accelerating construction. It will gather seven subfields: innovative biopharmaceuticals, modern Chinese medicine, innovative chemical drugs, AI + smart healthcare, high-end medical devices, pharmaceutical supply chain, and medical aesthetics and health maintenance, building a one-stop industrial ecosystem integrating basic research, pilot R&D, achievement transformation, production and circulation, and testing.

Source: Economic Daily

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