Drugs R&D base boosts regional production

The Zhangjiang Biotech and Pharmaceutical Industrial Base has vowed to constantly improve its innovative ecosystem, facilities and services so as to advance the development of innovative drugs.

Commonly known as Zhangjiang Drug Valley, the national-level Shanghai biopharmaceutical technology industry base was established in 1994 in the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Zone. The latter is one of China's first State-level hightech zones approved by the State Council in 1991 and is the core park of the Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone.

So far, Zhangjiang's biopharma base has attracted a large number of enterprises and organizations from both China and overseas, such as large-scale research and development organizations, both multinational and domestic pharmaceutical companies' R&D centers, domestic production centers, outsourcing businesses and contract research organizations.

With more than 40 research centers, nearly 100 public service platforms and more than 400 innovative enterprises, organizations and institutes, the base has become one of the most innovative and competitive new drug development facilities with the most significant innovation results across the country.

To develop a new drug takes a long time, involving many different stages, such as R&D, clinical trials, production and sales. Not every enterprise can complete the whole journey, according to Wang Lanzhong, general manager of Zhangjiang Biotech and Pharmaceutical Industrial Base.

"What we do is to create a innovative ecosystem that helps more enterprises to succeed, offering all kinds of support," Wang said.

Currently, the base provides a complete industrial chain that serves enterprises from new drug exploration right through to marketing. A number of well-developed public service platforms were built to provide technological support and a host of other professional services to companies.

The industrial base has also established technological platforms to serve different key steps in the drug development process, such as new drug selection, design of technological methods, quality research, drug effects studies and safety evaluation.

According to data from the China Food and Drug Administration, one in every three new medicines in China that has passed the administration's review is developed in the base.

In addition, the approval rate of new drug clinical trial applications by companies in the Zhangjiang base is three times more than the country's average.

As of the end of August, companies in the industrial base had developed more than 230 new medicines, with more than 50 of them granted new drug certificates.

Meanwhile, more than 260 medicines remain in development and more than 220 of them are categorized as innovative drugs.

According to the industrial base, 145 drugs are now in the stage before clinical trials or waiting for approval to begin clinical trials.

Some 27 medicines are in the first clinical trial phase, nearly 50 are in the clinical second and third stages, while 11 are applying for new drugs certificates or production certificates.

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