AstraZeneca Actively Participates in Taihu Bay Future Health Conference to Advance Healthcare Innovation Ecosystem

Wuxi, JiangsuApril 22, 2021/PR Newswire/ -- The inaugural "Taihu Bay Life and Health Future Conference," hosted by the Wuxi Municipal People's Government, was grandly held in Wuxi from April 21 to 23. As one of the strategic partners, AstraZeneca, a global leading biopharmaceutical company, held the "2021 AstraZeneca China Ecosystem Conference" during the event and co-organized a series of sessions. These efforts deeply supported the construction of a health innovation ecosystem characterized by extensive collaboration and high synergy, promoted the vigorous development of the life and health industry driven by innovative cooperation, and enhanced the health and well-being of the entire population.

"Capital Empowers Industry, Innovation Drives the Future"”Centered on this theme, the congress will host over 50 forums over the course of a week, bringing together nearly 1,000 enterprises, hundreds of renowned experts and scholars, industry leaders, and high-end resources from the innovation ecosystem in the life and health sector. The event will focus on hot topics such as industry policies, investment and financing, innovative pharmaceuticals, and smart healthcare, facilitating forward-looking, authoritative, and predictive exchanges and dialogues to fully showcase new technologies, new business formats, and new models in the life and health industry. Strategic partners including CICC, AstraZeneca, Hillhouse Ventures, Tigermed, Yunfeng Capital, and Honghui Capital are actively participating in the development of the congress to jointly discuss the future of life and health in the Taihu Bay region. The congress will also organize more than 100 one-on-one matchmaking sessions between investment institutions and medical enterprises, providing diverse business networking opportunities for industry-capital alignment. This aims to comprehensively promote the integrated development of high-quality innovative projects with top-tier capital, accelerate the upgrading of the innovative health ecosystem, and contribute to advancing the Healthy China initiative.

Grand Opening of the 2021 Taihu Bay Future Conference on Life and Health

At the keynote forum of the opening ceremony, attendees included Wu Yonghong, Deputy Secretary-General of the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government; Huang Qin, Secretary of the Wuxi Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China; Yang Sheng, Deputy Director of the Drug Registration Management Department of the National Medical Products Administration; Dong Guoqun, Vice General Manager of the Shanghai Stock Exchange; Li Hui, Vice General Manager of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange; Chu Gang, Chief Operating Officer and Member of the Management Committee of China International Capital Corporation (CICC); Wang Lei, Global Executive Vice President of AstraZeneca, President of International Business and China; Yi Nuoqing, Co-Chief Investment Officer and Partner of Hillhouse; Huang Xiao, Executive Director of Yunfeng Capital; Wang Hui, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Honghui Capital; He Weiwu, Founder of ETP Zhihe Kangdao Investment; Ye Xiaoping, Chairman of Tigermed; Wu Xiaobin, President of BeiGene; Cheng Minghe, Vice Chairman of Mindray Group; Liu Yuwen, Founder of Bohe Angel Fund; and Zhang Xiaoxia, Vice President of the Listing Issuance Services Department of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), along with other guests from strategic partner enterprises.

AstraZeneca’s Global Executive Vice President, President of International Business and China, Wang Lei, Delivers Keynote Address

On April 23, as one of the strategic partners of the inaugural Taihu Bay Life and Health Future Conference, AstraZeneca will host its annual Ecosystem Conference under the theme “Innovate · Preview the Future,” joining hands with more than 600 partners to discuss collaborative models for pharmaceuticals and medical devices, diagnostic partnerships, commercial promotion strategies, and investment frameworks.Presenting innovative solutions across various specialized fields.Partners will also leverage this platform to gain insights into AstraZeneca’s successful business innovation models and strategic planning, fostering extensive collaboration through cross-learning. On April 24, a series of events—including the Fudan Great Health Innovation Summit, the Commercial Insurance and Pharmaceutical Payment Innovation Summit, the Taihu Bay Talent Forum, the Yixing Frontier Innovation Forum on Life and Health, and the 2021 Great Health Industry Learning and Development Alliance 4D Forum—will be held consecutively. By exploring areas such as commercial insurance and pharmaceutical payment, talent development, and the construction of innovation ecosystems, these events will expand the scope of the conference and provide richer decision-making insights and service support for industrial development.

Wuxi served as AstraZeneca’s first entry point into the Chinese market. Leveraging Wuxi’s open and collaborative business environment, its industrial resource advantages, and its innovative ecosystem philosophy, both parties have continuously deepened their cooperation in research and development, operations, and commercial innovation, creating an innovative model for healthcare ecosystem development within the region and across China. In 2017, with the support of the Wuxi Municipal Government, AstraZeneca established the China Connected Care Innovation Center (CCiC). Over the past three years, the center has successfully attracted more than 300 cross-industry partners and, by leveraging new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and 5G, has supported the development of 14 integrated diagnosis and treatment solutions for comprehensive disease management. Currently, these solutions have been implemented in over 7,000 hospitals nationwide, with some projects extended to countries and regions along the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2019, the Wuxi International Life Science Innovation Park (iCampus), jointly built by the Wuxi Municipal Government, Wuxi High-Tech District, and AstraZeneca, has continuously improved its functional infrastructure through an innovative public-private partnership model. Within two years, it attracted more than 40 life science innovation enterprises from both domestic and international markets, striving to build an international innovation ecosystem with incubation capabilities and global synergy, thereby promoting Chinese innovation starting from Wuxi to serve China and benefit the world.

Based in Wuxi, AstraZeneca supports the radiation of more innovative concepts and development achievements to the Taihu Bay region, across China, and onto the global stage. We will unswervingly focus on our advantageous resources, promote the integrated development of capital and industry, adhere to the simultaneous implementation of “bringing in” and “going global,” take the domestic circulation as the mainstay while facilitating mutual promotion between domestic and international dual circulations, and leverage regional characteristics to build a high-quality, highly collaborative, and creative hub for the life and health industry in Taihu Bay.

Lei Wang, Executive Vice President of AstraZeneca and President of International Business and China, stated, “Under the new dual-circulation paradigm, innovation collaboration between domestic and international partners is becoming increasingly close, while surging scientific and technological innovation and the integration of industry and finance are accelerating the shaping of the future of the life and health sector. We are delighted to join forces with cross-sector partners to support the Wuxi Municipal Government in hosting the Taihu Bay Life and Health Future Conference, contributing to the elevation of the industry’s development ‘tier.’ Wuxi serves as a key hub for our multi-faceted development strategy in China. Looking ahead, we will continue to deepen our presence in Wuxi and engage in extensive collaborations to help build a more open and integrated healthcare ecosystem. Our goal is to make this fertile ground the preferred destination for domestic innovation, a key landing site for overseas innovation, and a thriving habitat for innovative talent, thereby propelling Wuxi’s innovations to achieve global impact.”

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/Nasdaq: AZN) is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development, manufacturing, and marketing of prescription medicines, with a primary focus on three major therapeutic areas: oncology; cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism; and respiratory and immunology. Headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom, AstraZeneca operates in more than 100 countries, and its innovative medicines benefit millions of patients worldwide. For more information, please visitwww.astrazeneca.com。

About AstraZeneca China

Since entering China in 1993, AstraZeneca has adhered to a science-led approach and prioritized innovation to meet the growing health needs of the Chinese population, striving to realize its grand vision of “pioneering innovation, benefiting patients, and becoming China’s most trusted healthcare partner.” Headquartered in Shanghai, AstraZeneca China has established regional headquarters in Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuxi, Hangzhou, and Chengdu, and employs nearly 20,000 people nationwide. The company has invested in manufacturing bases in Wuxi and Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, and established a China logistics center in Wuxi. In China, AstraZeneca’s business focus is primarily concentrated on therapeutic areas with the most urgent patient needs, including respiratory, cardiovascular, metabolic, oncology, gastrointestinal, and renal diseases. In 2017, the China Health IoT Innovation Center was launched in Wuxi, aiming to explore innovative integrated solutions for whole-disease management based on the Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare. In the same year, AstraZeneca formed a joint venture with SDIC Innovation to establish Dizal (Jiangsu) Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., accelerating the pace of local new drug research and development. In 2019, AstraZeneca announced a collaboration with Wuxi to co-establish the Wuxi International Life Science Innovation Park, pooling global expertise to benefit patients in China. Also in 2019, AstraZeneca announced the establishment of the Global R&D China Center in Shanghai and the launch of a global healthcare industry fund. In 2020, AstraZeneca announced its support for the “Internet Hospital” initiative.