Focus & Policy

National Health Emergency Teams Achieve Full Coverage in All Provinces

China's State Council Information Office held a regular policy briefing on the 28th to introduce the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of Disease Prevention and Control." Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, the National Development and Reform Commission has allocated a total of 13.1 billion yuan to support the construction of disease control systems at the national, provincial, municipal, and county levels. Currently, the average reporting time for China’s infectious disease online direct reporting system has been shortened from 5 days to 4 hours. At the national level, a technical system capable of rapidly identifying 300 pathogens within 72 hours has been established. 100% of provincial and 90% of municipal CDCs have the capacity for nucleic acid testing and virus isolation. National health emergency teams cover all provinces, with immunization planning vaccine coverage consistently maintained above 90%. The accessibility and convenience of vaccination services continue to improve.

The National Organization for the Joint Procurement of High-Value Medical Consumables released the "Notice on Carrying Out the Signing of Tripartite Agreements for the Centralized Volume-Based Procurement of Coronary Stents Organized by the State"

On December 28, it was reported that the National Joint Procurement Office for High-Value Medical Consumables released the "Notice on Carrying Out the Signing of Tripartite Agreements for the Centralized Volume-Based Procurement of Coronary Stents Organized by the State." The participating entities include the winning enterprises from the continuation procurement after the expiration of the agreement period for the centralized volume-based procurement of coronary stents organized by the state, the distribution enterprises selected autonomously by the winning enterprises, and the procurement entities. Medical institutions in the alliance provinces will carry out related work according to their respective provincial arrangements. The opening time for the system to confirm the distribution relationships of the selected products and the opening time for the tripartite agreement signing system are both December 26, 2023.

Gansu Releases "Announcement (I) on the Centralized Bulk Procurement of Thyroid Function Test Reagents"

On December 28, Gansu released the "Announcement (I) on the Centralized Bulk Procurement of Thyroid Function Test Reagents." According to the announcement, the procurement item is thyroid function test reagents (chemiluminescence method), with a procurement cycle of two years. All public medical institutions in the province (including grassroots healthcare units and military medical institutions) will act as the procurement entities. Medical institutions must confirm their intended demand volume for the next year based on the minimum sales packaging unit and corresponding number of tests displayed in the procurement subsystem. In this announcement, neither the intended procurement volume nor the maximum valid bid price has been disclosed. The proposed selection rules are divided into Rule One and Rule Two; however, how scores under Rule One will be calculated and the specific details of Rule Two have not yet been disclosed.

Sichuan Traditional Chinese Medicine: Focusing on High-Quality Industrial Development, Sichuan Medicinal Annual Comprehensive Output Value Exceeds 120 Billion Yuan

On December 28, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine held a press conference to introduce the situation of Sichuan's construction of a national comprehensive reform demonstration zone for traditional Chinese medicine. At the conference, Tian Xingjun, the Party Secretary and Director of the Sichuan Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, stated that Sichuan has introduced multiple measures to continuously "supplement, extend, and strengthen" the industrial chain development path, aggregating resource elements to promote the high-quality development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry. First, focus on mechanism building; second, focus on quality improvement; third, focus on cluster development. It is reported that Sichuan ranks first in China in terms of the total number of varieties of medicinal materials, the number of bulk varieties, and the number of authentic medicinal materials. The annual comprehensive output value of Sichuan medicines exceeds 120 billion yuan, indicating vigorous industrial development.

Industry & Investment Financing

Philips Launches a New Integrated Information Platform

On December 28, more than two years after acquiring the medical data collection company Capsule Technologies, Philips launched a new integrated information platform capable of connecting almost all devices used within hospitals, regardless of the manufacturer. In addition to consolidating isolated patient data streams, the vendor-neutral system will also provide a foundation for digital monitoring initiatives to help clinicians closely track information from various hardware and alert care teams to early signs of deteriorating or life-threatening issues. Within PIC iX, the platform can also apply different software modules to Capsule’s data streams, including clinical decision support tools and systems that monitor the performance of the monitors themselves for any necessary maintenance. It can also forward patient information to mobile devices carried by caregivers.

Shandong BoAn Biotechnology Co. Ltd.'s Two Claudin18.2-Targeted Innovative Drugs Granted Orphan Drug Designation by U.S. FDA

On December 28, BoAn Biotechnology announced that two of its self-developed investigational products targeting Claudin18.2— the innovative antibody BA1105 and the innovative antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) BA1301—have been granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. The orphan drug designation for BA1105 and BA1301 will facilitate subsequent research, registration, and commercialization in the United States, helping to reduce R&D investment and accelerate clinical development and time to market. BA1105 is a recombinant anti-Claudin18.2 fully human IgG1 monoclonal antibody used to treat advanced solid tumors with positive Claudin18.2 expression. It employs ADCC (antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity) enhancement technology, offering greater therapeutic potential, and is currently in Phase I clinical trials in China. BA1301 is BoAn Biotechnology’s first ADC product to enter the clinical stage and is also currently in Phase I clinical trials in China.

Taiji Group Announces Plan to Invest 1.5 Million Yuan in Establishing Taiji Group Macao Medical Research Institute Co., Ltd.

On December 28, Taiji Group announced that the company plans to invest 1.5 million RMB to establish Taiji Group Macao Pharmaceutical Research Institute Co., Ltd. (the specific name is subject to registration approval). The business scope of the Macao company includes: research and development of pharmaceutical products and health-related products, technology promotion, technical consultation and services, and technology transfer. The company stated that the establishment of the Macao company will help fully leverage Taiji's brand influence, fully explore the market value of traditional Chinese medicine, branded products, and classic formulas, and create modern Chinese medicine with multiple advantages. After the establishment of the Macao company, it will be included in the company’s consolidated financial statements.

PDBio Secures Tens of Millions in Pre-A Round Financing

On December 28, PDBio, a peptide drug research and development company, recently completed a Pre-A round of financing worth tens of millions of yuan. The round was led by the Sichuan Development Academician Fund, with participation from Huaxi Securities and other institutions. The funds will mainly be used for the R&D of new peptide drug pipelines. Founded in May 2021, PDBio has built a library of hundreds of millions of natural peptides from venomous animals. Based on a targeted mining system for animal venom peptides, PDBio screens and develops peptide drugs through a "high-throughput + cloud computing" screening platform and AI technology. It is reported that the company will independently develop new peptide drugs in the anti-infective and cardiovascular disease areas. For candidate drugs targeting other indications, the company plans to primarily transfer them after reaching a certain stage of development.