Shot in the arm for Pudong biological medicine

Pudong has expanded its biological medicine footprint, adding four new industry sites.

The four sites, each with a theme, occupy nearly 10 square kilometers. 

Three are in the Zhangjiang area, dubbed “China's pharmaceutical valley.”

They will be home to the regional headquarters of pharmaceutical companies, and the birthplace of new drugs and high-end medical apparatus.

The fourth site is in the coastal Laogang Town. It will host a cluster of companies that offer a variety of services to pharmaceutical companies, from early-phase R&D to manufacturing. 

By outsourcing these businesses, pharmaceutical companies can focus more on research.

Zhangjiang has focused on research and development in recent years. Its capacity to make drugs and medical apparatus needs to be greatly improved, said Wu Qing, deputy mayor of Shanghai.

“Pudong has enough land and capability to develop a manufacturing industry, not just to be an innovation hub,” Wu said. “It’s effective and efficient to turn ideas into products locally."

He stressed that manufacturing is of vital importance to make innovation valuable.

Under the plan, the new drug making base, about 3 square kilometers on the south side of Zhangjiang, is poised to create at least three drugs, each with a value of 1 billion yuan (US$150 million), and earn 10 billion yuan by 2021.

And the new medical apparatus manufacturing base, about 4 square kilometers in the eastern side of Zhangjiang, is expected to produce at least 30 top-class medical apparatus used inside human bodies and earn 10 billion yuan by 2021.

Yesterday the first group of 30 companies signed contracts to move to the four new sites. 

They are expected to bring 35 billion yuan of investment and create up to 80 billion yuan, according to Tang Shiqing, director of Pudong’s technology and economy commission.

Lu Songtao, chairman of local drug manufacturing company Green Valley, said it will set up a factory in the new drug-making base to increase production.

He revealed a new drug that can treat Alzheimer’s disease to some extent is very likely to go to market this year. 

Developed in cooperation with Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the drug has passed the third-phase of clinical trials.

At present there are seven sites on Pudong’s  biological medicine footprint.

Besides the four new sites, the other three are Zhangjiang High Technology Park where cutting-edge genetic technologies are developed, Shanghai International Medical Zone where high-end medical services are provided, and Kangqiao Industrial Park where high-end medical devices are made.

“The seven sites will work together and complement each other to form a complete industrial chain in Pudong and become an industrial cluster with global influence,” said Tang.

Chi Wangzhou, deputy general manager of local pharmaceutical company Tianci, said that different companies in Zhangjiang can now share and exchange resources as well as outsource work to further development.

“Zhangjiang has well-equipped yet low-price labs and incubators rich in resources,” he said.

At present, Pudong has more than 500 pharmaceutical companies, including eight of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in the world.