PR100508

BEIJING, Nov. 21, 2023 /Xinhua/--

On November 18, the 2023 International Forum on Life Science was unveiled,

under the theme of "Ignite Life for Future." Jointly organized by Beijing

Municipal Science and Technology Commission, the Administrative Commission of

Zhongguancun Science Park, the Beijing Municipal Association for Science and

Technology, the Beijing Municipal Food and Drug Administration, and the

Changping District Government, this year's forum aims to help shape an open,

global, market-oriented, and dynamic innovation ecosystem, help build

Zhongguancun Life Science Park into a world-leading "Life Science Valley" and a

world-famous hub for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, and promote

the high-quality development of Beijing's pharmaceutical and healthcare

industries, according to Changping District Integrated Media Center.

A life science forum that never ends online and offline

This year's forum adopts the "1+4+2+N" model to present a never-ending life

science forum whose activities are held both online and offline, with offline

events livestreamed in real time.

Specifically, the number "1" under this model refers to the main forum which

serves concurrently as the opening ceremony. Well-known scientists and experts

at home and abroad, representatives of medical institutions, investment

institutions, industry associations and chambers of commerce, and domestic and

foreign pharmaceutical enterprises are invited to discuss development and

cooperation opportunities around the frontier of life science and

pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.

"4" refers to the four themed panel sessions: the Medical Device Innovation and

Development Seminar, the International Forum on the Development and Application

of Artificial Intelligence and Medical Robots for Medical Equipment, the Drug

Research and Development Forum & the Zhongguancun Life Science Park Development

Forum, and the Changping Forum on Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Finance

Investment and Innovation. They cover the whole life cycle of the

pharmaceutical and healthcare industries from R&D, innovation to

industrialization, and aim to deliver a gala where business insiders can

exchange ideas and pool wisdom.

"2" refers to a press conference and a themed exhibition. The press conference

was held in the press conference hall of the municipal government on November

9, introducing the basic facts of the forum, the development of the

pharmaceutical and healthcare industries in Changping and the wider Beijing,

how the district and the city had promoted the development of relevant

industries by giving full play to their organizational and human resources

strengths, and the high-quality development and innovation of medical devices

in Beijing. The themed exhibition will be held during the group activity

period, with focus on biomedicine, AI, and medical robot products.

"N" refers to multiple supporting activities. This year's forum will include

some activities held by pharmaceutical and healthcare industry associations and

enterprises, to amplify its voice and continue to expand its influence.

Starting from July, five supporting activities have been held: the Gobroad

Science Forum, the 2023 Clinical Biobank Innovation and Development Forum, the

2023 DIA China Drug R&D and Innovation Conference, the 2023 First "Life Science

Valley" Forum on Biomedical Talent Development, the Integration and Innovation

Development Forum of Medicine, Engineering and Finance, and the upcoming Brain

Discovery: From Cognitive Science to Brain-like Intelligence -- 2023 Beijing

Brain Conference (the International Academic Exchange Season) scheduled in

December. These themed forums are expected to help enhance the innovation

ecosystem and the development level, and build Zhongguancun Life Science Park

into a world-leading model science park.

A gala of cooperation and exchange for common development with four highlights

This year's forum is of great significance. It will serve the implementation of

relevant national strategies and the development of the capital in the new era,

and drive the high-quality development of the city's pharmaceutical and

healthcare industries. Moreover, it plays a leading role in Changping's drive

to build the "Life Science Valley" brand, improve the pharmaceutical and

healthcare innovation ecosystem, and create a first-class business environment.

Overall, this forum has the following four highlights:

First, focusing on the frontier of science and technology. Aiming at the

emerging trend of accelerating transformation of the global technological

innovation paradigms, it focuses on the two core drivers: biotechnology and

digital technology, with the main forum and themed forums discussing the issues

from different perspectives. Nearly 100 industry heavyweights such as Xie

Xiaoliang, Shi Hengning, Wang Lai, and Qiao Jie are invited to make keynote

speeches, themed speeches and conduct roundtable dialogues, to share their

frontier insights and forward-looking ideas to promote the development of the

pharmaceutical and healthcare industries under the new development pattern.

Second, promoting the implementation of industrial projects. At this forum,

Changping introduced a number of major industrial projects, mainly the R&D

projects of multinational pharmaceutical companies and the commercialization of

original research achievements, and signed 12 major industrial projects

including Tong Ren Tang's Traditional Chinese Medicine Project, the Springer

Nature Group project, the R&D and production headquarters project of Daqing

Medical Device, the Life Science Valley International Frontier Technology

Commercialization Center project, the uBriGene project, and the Estun project.

The district has signed contracts with some of China's top 500 companies,

world-renowned academic publishing houses and other industry leaders. At the

same time, this year's forum will organize exhibitions and displays of

cutting-edge biotechnology, high-end medical devices, and the beauty and health

products, to fully promote Beijing's rich innovation factors, high-quality

development space, and first-class business environment. Targeted investment

promotion activities will be launched to identify and meet the needs of

stakeholders, expand the "circle of friends" of Beijing's pharmaceutical and

healthcare industries, and help more major projects and achievements land and

commercialize in Beijing.

Third, cultivating an innovation ecosystem. This forum will bring together

government officials, regulators, representatives of academia, businesses,

medical institutions and investment institutions to discuss topics of common

concern, such as technological breakthroughs, drug and device R&D, clinical

translation, financial empowerment, and regulatory science, so as to further

promote the in-depth integration and innovation collaboration among the

government, industry, academia, research institutes, medical institutions, and

financial intermediaries, and create a more dynamic and sticky innovation

ecosystem.

Fourth, improving global influence. The forum specially invited Dr. Michael

Levitt, the Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, and other European and American

academicians and experts, among other international guests. The exhibitors

include some of the Fortune Global 500, and a large number of Beijing-based

innovative enterprises with global presence including BeiGene, InnoCare, Wantai

BioPharm, and Pins Medical. All this is aimed to present a pharmaceutical and

healthcare event that meets international standards and has global influence.

Building a world-leading "Life Science Valley" with thriving business

The pharmaceutical and healthcare sector is the most innovative strategic

emerging sector worldwide, and bears directly on people's lives and health. It

is also one of the "twin engines" to boost Beijing's innovation and

development. Changping District attaches great importance to the pharmaceutical

and healthcare development, make them its dominant sector, and is committed to

building a 100 billion yuan pharmaceutical and healthcare industry cluster.

Changping's pharmaceutical and healthcare development also receives much

support from the city government which has issued two versions of the Beijing

Action Plan for Accelerating Collaborative Pharmaceutical and Healthcare

Innovation, clearly proposing to build Changping into a world-leading "Life

Science Valley."

Changping, where this forum takes place, with the great support from the

municipal and district governments, has seen a booming pharmaceutical and

healthcare sector. In 2022, its pharmaceutical and healthcare sector registered

a scale close to 80 billion yuan, and Changping was certified by the Ministry

of Industry and Information Technology as a specialty industry cluster of small

and medium-sized enterprises and the offshore innovation and entrepreneurship

base for overseas talents certified by the China Association for Science and

Technology.

After years of effort, Changping now boasts rich resources across the

pharmaceutical and healthcare supply chains, and all the factors needed for

production, education and research. Its pharmaceutical and healthcare sector

has entered the period of explosive growth of innovations and achievements, and

pharmaceutical and healthcare enterprises have received extensive attention

from the capital market.

In terms of the source of innovation, with the Zhongguancun Life Science Park

at the core, Changping gathers more than 10 high-level R&D institutions such as

Changping Laboratory, the National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing,

Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, and National Center for Protein

Science, Beijing. It has attracted many strategic scientists such as Wang

Xiaodong, Xie Xiaoliang, and Shao Feng and more than 300 high-level

specialists. More than 40 prestigious universities including Peking University,

Tsinghua University, Beihang University, Beijing University of Posts and

Communications, Beihua University, and China University of Mining and

Technology have opened campuses and labs in the district.

In terms of service outsourcing regarding pharmaceutical and medical device

R&D, Changping has a complete service ecosystem for the pharmaceutical and

medical device industry. To meet the needs of commercialization, it has

systematically built 34 key generic technology platforms for drug discovery,

laboratory animals, and CMO/CDMO, and built a service system covering the whole

industry chain ranging from incubation, R&D, to pilot test and

commercialization, continuing to smooth the transition from R&D and innovation

to industrialization.

In terms of administrative review and approval services, Zhongguancun Life

Science Park unveiled Beijing's first pharmaceutical and medical device

innovation service station in April 2023 to provide enterprises with

face-to-face targeted services, including the administrative approval process.

Other public services include Changsheng Posthouse, the activity room for

international talents, the foreigner service hall, and free trade cluster

registration platform. The Park is striving to provide all the administrative

services companies need.

As to the number of pharmaceutical and medical devices enterprises, Changping

has more than 900 pharmaceutical and healthcare enterprises, including 269

state-certified high-tech enterprises, 133 specialized and sophisticated SMEs,

19 unicorns and potential unicorn enterprises, and 18 listed enterprises

(including those listed in the US and Hong Kong). In addition, the early-stage

high-potential enterprises founded by scientific research institutes have kept

emerging. Changping, leveraging its unique advantages of clustering high-end

factors, has incubated 80 enterprises founded by well-known scientists,

including Pyrotech Therapeutic founded by Academician Shao Feng, Huahui Health

by Prof. Li Wenhui, BeiCell Therapeutics by Prof. Deng Hongkui, and Jianda

Jiuzhou by Prof. Luo Minmin.

Changping has seized the opportunity created by Beijing's drive to develop the

"Two Zones" (the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the

Services Sector and China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone). Considering the

development characteristics of the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries,

Changping introduced the city's first pharmaceutical and healthcare development

policy, namely, the Interim Measures for Changping Cluster to Support the

Development of the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Industries in the Sci-Tech

Innovation Area of China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone, and cashed out 83.73

million yuan last year. On the basis of the 2021 policy, Changping rolled out

its version 2.0 for driving the development of the pharmaceutical and

healthcare industries. This upgraded version 2.0 reflects the industrial

development trend and Changping's unique advantages, focuses on the two core

drivers of biotechnology and digital technology, and mainly supports the

accelerating commercialization of innovations, the introduction and

implementation of innovative projects, the strengthening and upgrading of

innovative enterprises, and the optimization and upgrading of the industrial

ecosystem.

In the future, Changping will continue to track the frontier of technology

innovation in the pharmaceutical and healthcare fields, and continuously

improve the innovation ecosystem and the development level. Seizing the

opportunity presented by this forum, it will focus on building a pharmaceutical

and healthcare industry cluster with a value of at least 100 billion yuan,

continue to expand the depth and breadth of industrial space of the "Life

Science Valley" Innovation Corridor, and improve industrial policies, the

innovation ecosystem, and service facilities, striving to set a Beijing model

for the development of the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries with global

influence. At the same time, Changping will assure the investors, companies and

their employees with the best environment, services, and policies, so that they

can invest, work and live in the district confidently and conveniently to

create a shared future. I sincerely hope that this forum will attract more

entrepreneurs to Changping, to start a business, pursue their dreams, and

create a win-win situation with us.

Source: Changping District Integrated Media Center

Image Attachments Links:

   Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=443364

   Caption: The 2023 International Forum on Life Science was held in Changping, Beijing.