2. Innovative drugs industry

Pudong is one of the regions in China with the highest concentrations of biomedical innovation personnel and research and development institutions. The area also boasts a complete innovation chain, outstanding innovation achievements and the most complete industrial system in China.  

Pudong has produced 15 percent of China’s original new drugs and 10 percent of China’s innovative medical devices. There are more than 500 types of drugs under research, and nearly 200 Class 1 new drugs have entered the clinical stage. More than 10 Class 1 new drugs are in the market application stage.

At the beginning of the year, one Class 1 new drug by Shanghai Allist Pharmaceutical Technology Co received marketing approval by the authorities. There are more than 80 upstream and downstream companies in the cell therapy field. Pudong accounts for one-third of the nearly 50 cell therapy clinical applications that have been approved by the country.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), a total of seven Class 1 new drugs produced by biomedicine companies in Pudong were approved for marketing. The industrial scale showed a steady upward trend, with the total industrial output value increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 10.6 percent from 41.858 billion yuan to 62.602 billion yuan.

By the end of 2020, several outstanding enterprises and unicorns from various segments of biomedicine had emerged in Pudong, and seven companies based on the area were listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board.

Pudong has enhanced the systems for drug marketing authorization holders and medical device registrants. Thirty-two applicants have applied for 51 varieties, of which 31 are new Class I drugs. Twelve medical device products by nine applicants have been approved for marketing. The Yangtze River Delta Sub-center of the National Drug and Medical Device Review and Inspection has been set up in Zhangjiang, also known as China's pharma valley.

In the first four months of this year, about 58 companies in Pudong New Area received capital investment or went public. The total financing amounted to more than 14 billion yuan, and the amount and number of IPOs increased by 2.6 times year-on-year.