Could a city best known for its classical gardens and ancient canals emerge as China’s answer to Boston – the global epicenter of biotechnology innovation? Five years ago, Suzhou set forth a bold vision: to transform itself into the “Pharma Valley of China” by 2030, benchmarking its ambitions directly against Greater Boston’s world-leading life sciences ecosystem. The city in Jiangsu province hosts the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park – a hub for electronic information, mechanical manufacturing, artificial intelligence (AI), nanotechnology and biomedicine. With 3,800 biopharmaceutical companies already in town, the aim is to attract more top local and international pharmaceutical firms to set up their regional headquarters there by offering each company a subsidy of up to CNY60 million. By 2030, Suzhou aims to establish itself as a major biopharmaceutical innovation hub, hosting more than 10,000 companies and generating an output value exceeding CNY1 trillion.
To train drug innovation leaders of the future, Suzhou’s Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) co-founded its Academy of Pharmacy with the Suzhou Industrial Park government in 2020 “to help Suzhou transform into a world-class biopharmaceutical and healthcare capital”. Fu Lei, Executive Dean of the XJTLU Wisdom Lake Academy of Pharmacy, spoke about the way forward in an interview with the South China Morning Post. He said that to nurture its pharmacy and biotechnology hub, China would need a comprehensive ecosystem encompassing talent cultivation, company establishment, manufacturing, regulation and legal services. Understanding how Boston became a major biotech hub could provide valuable insights for developing a similar ecosystem in Suzhou, Fu added.
Greater Boston is home to more than 1,000 biotech companies and many globally renowned research universities, including Harvard, Boston, Northeastern, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The city of Cambridge, also in the area, is known for Kendall Square, a leading center for biotech research and innovation that has been dubbed “the most innovative square mile on the planet”, home to hundreds of start-ups. “The hub should feature all essential elements for biopharmaceutical development, including a pharmacy school closely connected to the industry and a platform to support research conducted by faculty,” Fu said. “We created the missing components, such as a think tank that provides intelligence and legal services, along with training and support for intellectual property protection.”
The Academy has partnered with several Chinese biotech companies – including chronic disease drug innovator PegBio, nano-biomaterial specialist BEAVER, and transdermal drug delivery firm LIANSN – to set up joint labs where students can engage in company projects alongside their studies. Drawing on his education and work experience in the U.S., Fu said educating scientists to innovate therapies required a fundamentally different approach from that of existing pharmacy schools in China, whose curricula are designed for generic drug development. “In 2016, China began transitioning from producing generic drugs to developing innovative drugs. This shift creates new educational needs, as the focus had previously been on training students mainly in formulation and pharmacology to validate the efficacy of ‘me-too’ or ‘me-better’ drugs,” he said, referring to medications that are similar to or improved versions of existing ones.
“To create innovative drugs, it is essential for researchers to have a solid understanding of medicinal chemistry, enabling them to design, synthesize and prepare substances from the ground up. Additionally, biostatistics is a critical area of expertise for scientists involved in designing and conducting clinical trials,” he said. According to Fu, in China, pharmaceutical companies are the main drivers of innovation, rather than research institutions. This stands in contrast to the United States, where professors often commercialize their research findings through start-ups. Describing the situation in China as a “transitional phase”, Fu said: “Scientists in academia in China have a lot to learn from the industry, where many innovations are emerging, although academics may take on a leading role in the future.”
The industry’s leading role results from China’s historical focus on the generic drugs market, Fu explained. “China prioritized producing generic drugs and off-patent medications to meet the healthcare needs of its vast population,” he said. “The focus has been on producing drugs through reverse engineering, which can be done using techniques for analyzing existing medications, rather than developing new technologies.” Fu said the return of Western-educated Chinese researchers was driving China’s transition to innovative drugs.
“While transitioning to an innovation-first approach will take time, China has been developing rapidly, with leading-edge use of equipment and innovative ideas,” Fu added, pointing to new molecules developed in China that are now being researched abroad. “China’s patent protection has also significantly improved, encouraging scientists to register their new discoveries domestically,” Fu said, as reported by the South China Morning Post.
