Suzhou holds biopharmaceutical, healthcare matchmaking event

A total of 27 Sino-Japanese-South Korean biopharmaceuticals and healthcare projects settle in Suzhou. [Photo/WeChat account: suzhoufabu365]

A matchmaking conference for the biopharmaceuticals and healthcare industries in East Asian countries was held in Suzhou, Jiangsu province on May 17.

As a major sideline event of the first Taihu East Asian Entrepreneurs Forum, the event saw 27 Sino-Japanese-South Korean projects in the aforementioned industries, with a total of $4.8 billion in investment, settle in Suzhou.

The event also saw Suzhou publish a white paper detailing the current situation regarding the protection of intellectual property rights of the local biopharmaceuticals and medical equipment industries, which includes analyses on the layout and development trend of patents, patentees, as well as patents on key technologies.

Statistics show that by the end of last year, Suzhou was home to about 3,000 biopharmaceuticals and healthcare companies, which by realizing an annual growth rate of over 20 percent for several consecutive years, had reached a total industrial output of 175 billion yuan ($27.20 billion), as well as generated 210 billion yuan in annual sales revenue.

The number of patents applied to the biopharmaceuticals industry has surpassed 16,400, mostly covering fields like pharmaceutical chemicals, biological medicine, modern Chinese medicine, and medical devices. Specifically in the medical devices industry, the numbers of patents applied to areas like medical imaging equipment, implanted and interventional devices, medical robots, in-vitro diagnostic equipment, as well as high-value consumables were the highest in Jiangsu province.