Five Pioneers in Biopharma Embracing 'New Infrastructure': Highlights from the 2020 AI New Infrastructure Annual List

Driven by a national call to action, “New Infrastructure” has introduced a significant variable shaping the rules and development across all industries.

In "Made in China 2025," the State Council has identified biomedicine as a key area for breakthrough development, and coupled with the impetus from medical insurance and pharmaceutical policies, this has provided the biopharmaceutical industry with powerful wings for rapid growth.

The recently released "Report on the Healthy Development of China's Antibody Drug Industry" shows that from 2014 to 2019, the market size of China's biopharmaceutical industry grew from RMB 116.7 billion to RMB 317.2 billion, accounting for 16% of the global market, with an average annual growth rate of 22%, exceeding the global average growth rate of 8.8% during the same period.

Leiphone, a tech media outlet focused on in-depth reporting of medical innovation and healthcare technology(WeChat Official Account: Leiphone)At the grand launch of the “2020 Best AI New Infrastructure Annual List” selection, a special award category, the “Biopharmaceutical New Infrastructure List,” was established.

Based on industry expert opinions and reviews,AstraZeneca, Genesky Diagnostics, Siemens Healthineers, Biocytogen, BGIFive companies have stood out in the broad biomedical industry by leveraging their respective strengths, winning the “Best Pharmaceutical Digital Application Award,” “Best Oncology Precision Early Screening Award,” “Best In Vitro Diagnostic Product Award,” “Best New Drug R&D Platform Award,” and “Best Genetic Testing Product Award,” respectively.

Best Digital Pharmaceutical Application Award: AstraZeneca

In 2018, Pascal Soriot, Global CEO of AstraZeneca, stated at the University of Cambridge: “The healthcare industry is undergoing a transformation driven by data, computing power, and intelligent technologies such as AI. Big data and related technologies may represent significant opportunities, with life sciences being a key sector where (AstraZeneca) should leverage this prosperity.”

As a century-old biopharmaceutical enterprise, AstraZeneca has been developing digital innovation technologies in recent years across multiple business areas, including AI-driven drug discovery, internal management innovation, patient services, and digital marketing. These efforts are accelerating drug R&D efficiency, speeding up clinical trial processes, strengthening relationships with physicians and patients, and comprehensively transforming pharmaceutical business workflows.

In the drug development process, AstraZeneca has developed a new deep learning algorithm that leverages digital pathology to automatically perform tissue biomarker analysis, transforming the automated analysis of digital pathological images into a high-throughput process. By integrating AI algorithms into the development of diagnostic tests, AstraZeneca utilizes AI to influence patient treatment, ensuring that target drugs are administered to the patients who need them most.

In its business innovation initiatives, AstraZeneca also leverages tools such as Veeva, Salesforce.com, Concur, and Workday to streamline operations and enhance work efficiency, while employing multichannel relationship marketing (MCRM) to expand its reach among healthcare professionals.

In addition, AstraZeneca established the China Health Internet of Things Innovation Center in 2017, comprehensively showcasing 14 end-to-end integrated diagnosis and treatment solutions for full-course disease management, tailored to the health needs of Chinese patients. These solutions have been widely implemented across China, with some expanding internationally and being adopted in multiple countries worldwide.

In 2019, AstraZeneca partnered with the Wuxi Municipal Government and Wuxi High-Tech District to co-establish the Wuxi International Life Science Innovation Park. Leveraging AstraZeneca’s global network, the park serves as an incubation platform for innovative companies in pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical devices, and digital health from both domestic and international markets, aiming to provide full-lifecycle support across the life sciences sector and enable comprehensive patient journey management.

Best Award for Precision Early Cancer Screening: Genesky Diagnostics

Shanghai GeneChem Medical Laboratory Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as “GeneChem Lab”) undertakes the “Precision Diagnosis” strategic module within its parent company, GeneChem’s overall “Precision Medicine” strategy. Targeting high-incidence and critical cancers in China, it actively introduces advanced diagnostic technologies suited to China’s national conditions, and deploys corresponding testing services and products across all stages of cancer diagnosis and treatment.

GeneChem Diagnostics focuses on whole-course disease management, establishing precision oncology diagnosis and treatment solutions aligned with clinical practice in China through clinical testing related to early tumor screening, adjunctive medication, medication guidance, prognosis, and recurrence monitoring.

In the development of early cancer screening products, GeneChem has selected gene methylation detection as the core technology of its products. By collaborating with multiple Grade A tertiary hospitals in China and continuously optimizing methylation detection techniques in complex samples, it has prioritized the joint research and development of early screening products for colorectal cancer.

The early screening product Changyoukang® demonstrates significantly superior screening rates for early-stage colorectal cancer, particularly adenomas, compared to existing detection methods. The testing service for this product has already been launched on the market, and a partnership has been established with China Life Insurance. Early screening products for thyroid cancer and lung cancer have also been included in the R&D pipeline.

GenePlus possesses independent intellectual property rights for product development. It has established a comprehensive product portfolio encompassing initial screening, confirmatory testing, medication guidance, and precision therapy for advanced-stage cancer, dedicated to developing diagnostic solutions tailored to Chinese cancer patients and contributing to cancer prevention, early diagnosis, treatment, and patient care.

The rapid expansion of Siemens Healthineers’ in vitro diagnostics (IVD) product portfolio began in 2006 and 2007. In 2006, Siemens acquired DPC, a leading company in the field of immunodiagnostics, for €1.5 billion.

In January 2007, it made its second major acquisition, purchasing Bayer’s Diagnostics division in the field of clinical chemistry for €4.2 billion; later that year, it made an even larger acquisition by purchasing Dade Behring, a leading in vitro diagnostics company, for $7 billion. These three acquisitions established Siemens Healthineers as a leading player in laboratory in vitro diagnostics and nucleic acid testing.

Siemens Healthineers has continued to invest in R&D and deepen its presence in the Chinese market. Building upon the physical infrastructure of the Atellica and Aptio total laboratory automation solutions, it has launched the Atellica Data, Workflow, and Inventory Management System. This system helps clinical laboratories better manage patient data, quality risks, and various laboratory performance metrics. The unified computational model and standardized data traceability of this global platform support the development of foundational infrastructure for big data analytics in laboratories.

In terms of process optimization and functional development, Siemens Healthineers’ IT expert team has consistently focused on the needs of Chinese customers, providing localized, customized digital solutions for clinical laboratories in China. Over the past decade, the team has successively developed 32 digital solutions, including automated online quality control, automated online comparison, and smart laboratory mobile management software, thereby facilitating the digital transformation of clinical laboratories in China.

Best New Drug Development PlatformAward: Biocytogen

Biocytogen is an international biotechnology company driven by innovative technologies for new drug development.

Biocytogen has independently developed and holds full independent intellectual property rights for its fully human antibody mouse platforms: RenMab, RenLite, and RenNano. By organically integrating its single-cell antibody discovery technology platform, efficient gene-edited model development platform, large-scale animal model supply platform, rapid in vivo and in vivo pharmacodynamic evaluation platform, and robust clinical development capabilities, Biocytogen has established a comprehensive new drug R&D system covering the entire drug development process.

To date, Biocytogen has established collaborative relationships with hundreds of pharmaceutical R&D enterprises worldwide and has entered into exclusive antibody drug development partnerships with more than ten globally leading pharmaceutical companies. In addition, the company has built a portfolio of over ten antibody drug development pipelines covering oncology, autoimmune diseases, anti-infective agents, and other therapeutic areas. In 2020, the company successfully licensed its RenMab®/RenLite™ fully human antibody mouse platform to Xencor, BeiGene, Innovent Biologics, and Junshi Biosciences in the United States and China, further expanding its international influence in the field of drug development.

With the implementation of the large-scale antibody drug development initiative—the “Thousand Mice, Ten Thousand Antibodies” program—Biocytogen will focus more on the original research and development of innovative antibody drugs in the future.

As one of the global providers of genomics-based testing and research services, BGI Genomics Co., Ltd. leverages multi-omics big data technologies—including genetic testing, mass spectrometry testing, and bioinformatics analysis—to deliver comprehensive solutions for research services and precision medicine testing to scientific research institutions, enterprises and public institutions, medical facilities, and social health organizations.

BGI has built a closed-loop product line for genetic testing encompassing “prediction, screening, diagnosis, and monitoring,” leveraging its proprietary high-throughput detection technologies and strengths in bioinformatics big data. The company provides integrated brand services that combine genetic screening, clinical testing, medical device solutions, and clinical research support.

As the first BRCA and HRD central testing laboratory to conduct clinical trials for the registration of olaparib and niraparib in China, BGI has continued to deepen its development of companion diagnostic tests related to PARP inhibitors. After eight years of research and development, it has achieved the provision of high-quality testing services across a comprehensive product portfolio for PARP inhibitor-related molecular biomarkers, including BRCA, HRR, and HRD.

Among these, the Huarandi-HRD score homologous recombination deficiency test is based on genetic polymorphism data from the Chinese population. By employing a self-developed core algorithm for the HRD score, it comprehensively and accurately assesses genomic scarring, increasing the proportion of ovarian cancer patients benefiting from PARP inhibitors from 29% (tBRCA positivity rate) to 68% (HRD positivity rate).Leiphone Leiphone

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