Evening Brief: 2023 Nobel Prize Predictions Announced; China's Basic Research Funding Exceeds ¥200 Billion for the First Time, Ranking Second Globally

Sep 20, 2023 19:58 CST Updated 19:59

Century Healthcare

Medical Device Manufacturer, R&D, and Distributor

1. Century Healthcare Completes Hundreds of Millions in Financing, SDIC Fund Leads Investment

On September 20, Tianjin Century Healthcare Biomedical Engineering Co., Ltd. ("Century Healthcare") announced the completion of its Series A+ and B rounds of financing worth hundreds of millions of yuan. The Series B round was led by SDIC Fund Management, with participation from Evolve Capital, Dongguan Songshan Lake Science City Venture Capital, Xiaochi Capital, and Jujin Investment, while Qingke Capital served as the financial advisor for this round. The funds raised will be used to further accelerate market promotion, consolidate R&D capabilities, and develop new product lines.

2. Fired the "First Shot" for PD-1 Going Overseas, BeiGene's Tislelizumab Approved by the EU

China's PD-1 Field Finally Fires the First Shot of Going Overseas. On the evening of September 19, BeiGene announced that its self-developed PD-1 antibody, Tislelizumab (Brand name: BeiGene-An), received EU approval as a monotherapy for adult patients with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) who have previously received platinum-based chemotherapy. Thus, Tislelizumab becomes the first product in the PD-1 field to go overseas, making a full-scale advance into the global market.

3. Brain-computer interface company Neuralink to conduct human trials, has begun recruiting clinical trial participants

Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain-computer interface startup, announced on Tuesday that it has received approval from an independent review board to begin its first human trial, implanting devices in the brains of paralyzed patients. Neuralink stated that this research aims to test the safety and effectiveness of its wireless, fully implantable brain-computer interface, enabling paralyzed individuals to control external devices with their minds. The company has also officially opened recruitment for clinical trial participants; patients paralyzed due to cervical spinal cord injuries or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may qualify for participation.

4. The number of cells in the human body is determined: 36 trillion for adult males and 28 trillion for adult females.

Scientists from Germany and Canada reviewed more than 1,500 scientific papers and re-evaluated the number of cells in adults and children. The results showed that adult men have an average of 36 trillion cells, while adult women have an average of 28 trillion cells. Moreover, the mass of small cells in the human body, such as blood cells, is roughly equal to that of larger cells like muscle cells. The relevant paper was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on the 18th.

5. Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College published an article

On September 15, scholars from Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, published a research paper in Nature Communications, suggesting that MC1R is a melanoma immunotherapy target and proposing that GNAS-PKA signaling is a pan-cancer oncogenic pathway that suppresses anti-tumor T-cell responses.

6. China's Basic Research Funding Exceeds 200 Billion Yuan for the First Time, Ranking Second in the World

According to a message from the National Bureau of Statistics on September 18, based on the "2022 National Statistical Bulletin on Science and Technology Funding" jointly released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Finance, China's total investment in Research and Development (R&D) funding exceeded 3 trillion yuan in 2022, reaching 3,078.29 billion yuan, representing a 10.1% increase over the previous year.Enterprises, government-affiliated research institutions, and higher education institutions are the three major executors of R&D activities in China.In 2022, the R&D expenditures of the three main entities were 2,387.86 billion yuan, 381.44 billion yuan, and 241.24 billion yuan, respectively, representing year-on-year growth of 11.0%, 2.6%, and 10.6%.By type of R&D activity, in 2022, China's basic research, applied research, and experimental development funding reached 202.35 billion yuan, 348.25 billion yuan, and 2,527.69 billion yuan respectively, increasing by 11.4%, 10.7%, and 9.9% over the previous year.Among them, the growth rate of basic research funding was 1.3 percentage points faster than that of R&D funding, continuing to maintain rapid growth;The total amount exceeded 200 billion yuan for the first time, ranking second in the world.Universities and government-affiliated research institutions contributed 44.8% and 38.3%, respectively, to the growth of basic research funding, making them the main forces in conducting basic research activities in China.

7. The 2023 Nobel Prize Predictions Are Out! Clarivate's "Citation Laureate Award" Announced

On September 19,Clarivate Announces 2023 Citation Laureates, Honoring 23 World-Renowned Researchers from 5 CountriesAmong the winners, 16 are from leading academic institutions in the United States, 2 from Japan, 2 from the United Kingdom, 2 from France, and 1 from Germany.