[Photo/VCG]

Shanghai's Pudong New Area has become a vital component of the city's efforts to support biopharmaceutical industry development.

In 2018, the biomedical businesses in the special district reported 67.2 billion yuan ($10 billion) in terms of overall industrial output value and service revenue, a year-on-year increase of 12.7 percent, among which biomedical manufacturing enterprises above the scale contributed over 50 billion yuan of that sector's overall manufacturing industrial output value in Pudong last year.

A great number of leading pharmaceutical giants, including the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche Group, Siemens Shanghai Medical Equipment Ltd, Shanghai Haini Pharmaceutical Co and MicroPort Scientific Corporation have maintained a steady growth.

Pudong last year also made a breakthrough in the innovative development of new drugs. To date, a total of seven new drugs have been approved to be available in the new district, accounting for nearly 20 percent of the country's total.

Over 60 drugs are under clinical trials in the district, more than half of which are first-class new drugs.

In terms of medical devices, Pudong now is equipped with six newly approved innovative medical device products, accounting for 11 percent of the country.

In 2018, a paper about the clinical trials after the invention of the stent by Shanghai MicroPort Medical (Group) Co was published on the website of the Lancet, a world-leading medical journal based in the United Kingdom, making the first time that clinical data from a China manufactured drug eluting stent has been published in the journal since its first publication 200 years ago, showing that the innovative achievement of MicroPort has won international recognition.

Despite the great accomplishments in Pudong's biomedical industries, there are still some deficiencies in terms of the integration of medical resources, land shortage and relevant supportive policies.

Aiming to build the district into a biomedical manufacturing center with a global influence, Pudong will strive to increase its pharmaceutical prowess by comparing itself with the highest standards internationally.

For the purposes of this, the district will integrate the resources of medical institutions and innovative R&D companies, advance the construction of industrial zones, seek breakthroughs in policy reforms, and accelerate the construction and introduction of key projects.