Chinese firms see strong start in R&D

Nation quickly catching up in therapeutic biological sector with government support

Ren Jinsheng has been taking the lead in the pharmaceutical industry in China for more than 30 years - from a graduate majoring in traditional Chinese medicine to an employee of a pharmaceutical company; from a managerial staff member of a State-owned drugmaker to founder of a private pharmaceutical company; from focusing for medicine manufacturing to being devoted to innovative drug development and commercialization.

Now the chairman of Simcere Pharmaceutical Group is busy building a research and development hub on therapeutic biologics in the company's base in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

Called Baijiahui (Chinese for "getting hundreds of businesses together"), the hub will provide a platform for therapeutic biological R&D projects and related startups. Ren said that enhancing the nation's biological medicine R&D capabilities and reducing costs will require the comprehensive and collaborative strength of related enterprises.

"China has unique advantages in therapeutic biologics development. They include the government's support, a rich talent pool, experiences and lessons from mature markets as well as a vast clinical trial base," he said. "However, challenges also exist, the most noticeable being a shortage of self-development."

In addition, some of Ren's counterparts urged the government to enhance intellectual property rights protection and build a strict quality and safety control system in line with international standards. That will benefit both companies and patients, they said.