Shanghai leader calls for further development of biomedicine industry

A researcher introduces medical equipment to Li Qiang, Party secretary of Shanghai, on Sept 3. [Photo/weibo.com]

The Party Secretary of Shanghai Li Qiang called for further development in the city's burgeoning biomedicine industry during his visit to local Chinese and overseas pharmaceutical companies, R&D centers and research institutes on Sept 3.

The first destination was WuXi AppTec, a research service provider of drugs and medical equipment, where Li was briefed about the company's overall development and discussed with scientists and managers their suggestions about the city's talent attraction policy.

Li emphasized the important role of talented personnel in developing the biomedicine industry and vowed to create a better environment for talent growth.

He encouraged the company to follow the latest trends of global biological technology and the medical industry to make more breakthroughs.

WuXi AppTec, founded in 2000, has recently built a new drug development platform covering research, development, test, production, clinical trials, and marketing. It now has nearly 10,000 employees in Shanghai, three quarters of which are research personnel.

At the China Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (CNIBR), Li learned about the institute's key research projects, achievements, and cooperation with local universities, research institutes, and pharmaceutical companies.

Li considered foreign-invested research institutions an integral driving force for the development of Shanghai's scientific and technological innovation centers and hoped that they will join hands to advance the city's sci-tech industries. 

With a focus on genomics, disease biology, new drugs, and translational medicine, CNIBR is the third largest research center of Novartis worldwide with the employment of over 700 research personnel.

At the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM) of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Li was introduced to the progress of GV-971, a new drug for Alzheimer's disease, which has completed the phase III clinical trial.

Li said that the development of original new drugs is for the benefit of the people and vowed to give full support to the R&D of new drugs.

He also expressed his hopes for local research personnel to keep pursuing innovation in the biomedicine industry.

Established in 1932, SIMM has been dedicated to the theoretical and technological research on pharmaceuticals and has developed numerous new drugs.

Party Secretary of Shanghai Li Qiang visits the China Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (CNIBR) to learn about its key research projects and achievements on Sept 3. [Photo/weibo.com]