Beijing, Shanghai roll out policies to boost pharma, medtech

Beijing and Shanghai have unveiled fresh policy packages to advance the high-quality development of the medical device and pharmaceutical industries.

The Beijing Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, in collaboration with five other departments, on Monday issued a package of measures, including financial support to encourage medical device manufacturers to work more closely with developers of large AI models to build industry-specific large models. Under the plan, companies producing leading domestic or international competitive models will be eligible for subsidies up to 30 million yuan ($4.1 million), based on their computing-power costs.

The measures also accelerate the creation of reliable health-sector data sets and improving rules for data sharing and circulation, while ensuring security and compliance.

Companies operating in Beijing’s data-infrastructure pilot zones will be encouraged to build data-governance service platforms, with support provided once these platforms demonstrate sufficient service capabilities.

Meanwhile, Shanghai recently issued its own policy package aimed at deepening drug and medical device regulatory reforms, fostering a more collaborative innovation ecosystem.

According to a statement from the Shanghai government, the city will work on improving drug and medical device review and approval processes while enhancing regulatory efficiency.

The measures also highlight the importance of strengthening coordination across healthcare, medical insurance and the pharmaceutical sectors. Shanghai will also explore greater use and shared access to medical and insurance data to expedite the translation of innovative drugs and devices into clinical use.