On November 6, 2021, the press conference "Joining Together – Building a New Future for China's Pharma Innovation Ecosystem" was held at the 4th China International Import Expo (CIIE). At the conference, the R&D-based Pharmaceutical Association Committee (RDPAC) under the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment, launched an initiative to call on all sectors to work together to strive for the next five-year development of China's pharmaceutical innovation system with reference to the achievements of China's pharmaceutical innovation system over the past five years.
Photo: Guests at the Launch Ceremony (left to right):
President of Roche Pharmaceuticals China, Vivian Bian; President of MSD China, AnnA van Acker; President and General Manager of Lilly China, Julio Gay-Ger; Managing Director of RDPAC, Kang Wei; Vice President of the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment, Yuan Gaoqiang; General Manager of AbbVie China, Tony Au; President of Bristol-Myers Squibb for Mainland China and Hong Kong, Chen Siyuan; Country Lead, Sanofi China, General Manager, General Medicines, Sanofi China, Pius S. Hornstein; Chairman of RDPAC Executive Committee 2022-2023 and President of Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group China, Jean-Christophe Pointeau; Former Vice Chairman of RDPAC Executive Committee, Executive Vice President and Head of China and International Healthcare of Merck, Chow Hong; President of Novartis Pharmaceuticals China, Ingrid Zhang; President of Baxter Greater China, Shirly Xu; Senior Vice President of Lilly China, Head of Drug Development and Medical Affairs Center, Wang Li; R&D Head of Boehringer Ingelheim China, Zhang Wei; Founder and Executive Director of CHiPA, Cai Jiangnan; General Manager of Pharma and Vaccines, GSK China, Cecilia Qi; Director of Tongji Medical School Medicine Policy and Management Center, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Chen Hao
Mr. Yuan Gaoqiang, Vice President of the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment; Mr. Jean-Christophe Pointeau, Chairman of RDPAC Executive Committee 2022-2023 and President of Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group China; Ms. Chow Hong, former Vice Chairman of RDPAC, Executive Vice President and Head of China and International Healthcare of Merck; and Mr. Cai Jiangnan, Founder and Executive Director of CHiPA were invited to deliver speeches on the development of China's pharmaceutical innovation system, airing industry views on how to build a positive, sustainable domestic pharma innovation ecosystem from different perspectives. The conference also featured general managers and R&D heads from 11 RDPAC’s member companies. During the launch ceremony, they joined together to press a button signifying the start of a new future for a pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem that will support Healthy China 2030 and China's pharmaceutical industry.
Guests touch the big screen to jointly launch the lighting ceremony of the series of reports "Fostering China's Pharmaceutical Innovation System"
The Report Series on Fostering China's Pharmaceutical Innovation System, co-initiated by RDPAC and the China Pharmaceutical Innovation and Research Development Association (PhIRDA) in early 2021, includes four sub-reports and one main report. The reports focus on conducting an in-depth analysis of the key elements needed to drive the growth of China’s pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem, looking particularly at competition, accessibility, and sustainability. The report also suggests that, as China’s pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem is still in its infancy, international collaboration can play a significant role in strengthening the ecosystem. It then argues that the industry as a whole needs to put clinical value first, prioritize benefiting patients, and optimize the funding through multi-layered medical insurance systems while increasing investment in healthcare to ensure sustained funding for innovation that will benefit patients around the world.
At the conference, Mr. Yuan Gaoqiang, Vice President of the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment, expressed, “MNC enterprises witnessed and contributed a great deal to China’s economic and social development. The Chinese government has brought medical innovation to a high level and continues improve the business environment. MNCs continue to be highly involved in China’s health innovation, increasing investment, providing more constructive solutions for collaboration, and fighting against COVID-19.
Mr. Yuan Gaoqiang, Vice President of the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment
"China has now ranks No. 2 worldwide in terms of pharmaceutical innovation, with the number of innovative drugs ranking only behind the U.S. in the post-COVID era, innovation and collaboration have become the two keywords leading the biopharmaceutical industry. The 14th Five-Year Plan further emphasizes innovation as the core of modern development, and states that efforts should be made to pioneer frontiers in biopharmaceutical science and technology, which is expected to bring development dividends to the innovation-driven pharmaceutical industry and bolster confidence across the entire industry," said Mr. Cai Jiangnan, Founder and Executive Director of CHiPA.
Mr. Cai Jiangnan, Founder and Executive Director of CHiPA
Mr. Jean-Christophe Pointeau, Chairman of RDPAC Executive Committee 2022-2023, pointed out, "This year China celebrates its 20th anniversary of joining the WTO; 2021 is also the first year of the 14th Five-year Plan. 17 of our member companies participated in this year’s CIIE, which demonstrates that MNCs are recognizing the sustained progress China has made in improving its business environment. RDPAC fully supports further upgrading and innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, and as the upcoming chairman, I will work with closely with RDPAC executive committee team to promote innovation, protect intellectual property rights, improve market access, and ensure compliance in operations to further support the goals of Healthy China 2030!"
Mr. Jean-Christophe Pointeau, Chairman of RDPAC Executive Committee 2022-2023 and President of Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group China
Ms. Chow Hong, Former Vice Chairman of RDPAC Executive Committee, Executive Vice President and Head of China and International Healthcare of Merck and one of the advocators for the Series Reports on Fostering China's Pharmaceutical Innovation System said, "The past five years have been a remarkable period for China's pharmaceutical reform, with compelling achievements in top-level design, capacity building, accelerated regulatory review and approval and clinical application. These achievements instill confidence in the future of pharmaceutical innovation in China. As someone with deep roots in the healthcare industry, I believe that through deep-seated reform, higher level of opening-up and international cooperation, China will transfer from ‘a pharmaceutical manufacturing power’ to ‘a pharmaceutical innovation powerhouse’!”
Ms. Chow Hong, Former Vice Chairman of RDPAC Executive Committee, Executive Vice President and Head of China and International Healthcare of Merck
Ms. Kang Wei, Managing Director of RDPAC, said, "Last year, RDPAC met with member company executives, doctors, and vaccine experts in this very pavilion. Faced with the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone was united in their understanding that, if we wanted to eliminate the pandemic and return the world to normal order, we needed medical innovation, and that it was up to pharmaceutical innovators to come up with a solution. Now, the successive emergence of vaccines and therapies offer hope that we can overcome COVID-19 and bring our lives and economies back on track. As such, encouraging medical innovation is of great importance to defeating disease. Today we are here to demonstrate the enduring strength of China's pharmaceutical innovation system and call on all walks of life to work together for medical innovation! RDPAC looks forward to working with the Chinese government and local businesses so we can jointly promote high-quality development of pharmaceutical innovation from China's pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem."
Ms. Kang Wei, Managing Director of RDPAC
From 2021 to 2025, the development of China's pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem will focus on science and technology, innovation, collaboration, and public health. At the frontiers of science and technology it aims to achieve leading, original research breakthroughs in strategic areas; In supporting innovation systems, it seeks to update and upgrade the policies, regulations, and mechanisms that run through all aspects of innovation to improve efficiency and integrate them with international systems; Looking at innovation in production, it aims for the No 1 spot in research output while maintaining world-class quality to offer returns on sustained investment in the industry; For public health, it offers more improved accessibility to high-value innovative therapies to relieve the tremendous burden of chronic and infectious diseases.
Click on the links below for the series of reports：
Main report of Fostering China Pharmaceutical Innovation System: 2021-2025
