Deepening Industry-Academia-Research Integration: Bridging Academic and Industrial Innovation Chains — Insights from the 2022 Forum on Medical Innovation and Technological Frontiers
2022 was a year in which the pace of integration among industry, academia, and research continued to accelerate, with the sector steadily advancing into the heartland of innovation.
On one hand, a growing number of researchers are moving into the industry sector, striving to break down barriers between cutting-edge theories and clinical needs, thereby ensuring the practical implementation of innovative technologies. On the other hand, industry practitioners are continuously collaborating with research institutes and medical institutions to expand their business boundaries while exploring greater possibilities for technological innovation.
However, for research on innovative applications in the medical field, this merely represents the first step of a long journey.How to truly integrate the academic innovation chain with the industrial innovation chain remains a major challenge for scientists, professors, physicians, and industry practitioners.
During the transition from summer to autumn, the Peking University–Yunnan Baiyao Medical Research Center (hereinafter referred to as the “PKU–Baiyao Medical Center”) successfully held the “2022 Forum on Pharmaceutical Innovation and Frontiers in Science and Technology” (hereinafter referred to as the “Forum”) at the Baiyao Space, the headquarters of Yunnan Baiyao Group.
At the forum, experts shared their research findings, insights, trend forecasts, and industry observations on numerous cutting-edge academic issues in fields such as oncology, reproductive medicine, trauma orthopedics, pharmacy, stomatology, and medical aesthetics, offering valuable perspectives for the innovative technological development of the healthcare industry.
Through this series of shares, VCBeat has also captured the nascent answers to some of the most pressing concerns in the healthcare industry today, such as “how to truly integrate the academic innovation chain with the industrial innovation chain,” “key factors for next-stage development,” and “innovative thinking.”
From the perspective of national policy, innovation is inevitably the key to the upgrading and transformation of the healthcare industry. National policies and guidelines, such as the Innovation-Driven Development Strategy and the Healthy China Strategy, clearly point to innovation as the direction for development.
Looking Back at the Milestone Breakthroughs in the History of Global Medicine and Pharmacy, from the advent of penicillin, the discovery of X-rays, the elucidation of the DNA double helix structure, and breakthroughs in organ transplantation technology, to the subsequent development of CT, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), minimally invasive surgery, targeted drugs, medical artificial intelligence, and smart medicine,Almost all of them stem from the accumulation and cross-integration of technological innovation achievements.
Looking back at the entire conference, “technological innovation” was the absolute keyword.
In his keynote address on “Health Protection and Innovative Development,” Academician Qiao Jie of the Chinese Academy of Engineering discussed the current mismatch between the state of health protection and the public’s needs.
Academician Qiao Jie stated:“Human health across the entire life cycle is currently under severe threat. The precipitous decline in China’s birth rate, coupled with the accelerating aging of its population, has further intensified the demand for high-quality medical innovation. However, a critical contradiction persists on the supply side: 90% of clinical practice guidelines and high-end medical equipment, as well as over 90% of original drugs and pharmaceutical standards, still originate from abroad. Consequently, innovations that truly meet China’s public health needs remain scarce. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the healthcare industry to establish a comprehensive, end-to-end innovation ecosystem—spanning basic research, technological breakthroughs, translational research, widespread application, industrial upgrading, and service economics—that places the fulfillment of public health needs at both its starting point and ultimate goal, thereby achieving holistic health stewardship across the entire life cycle, from prevention and treatment to health management.”
The scarcity of innovation is an unavoidable issue in the current healthcare industry. The lack of medical innovation is a key factor contributing to the inability to meet the substantial healthcare demand in China and to significantly improve healthcare quality, while also representing the fastest pathway to resolving this challenge. It is for this reason that innovation has long been regarded as a highly valuable component in the development of today’s healthcare sector. Both national policies and the early-stage market have demonstrated considerable “preference” for technological innovation.
Why is innovation considered crucial?To provide a simple example that concretizes the significance of technological innovation, early screening, early diagnosis, and early treatment have long been regarded as key solutions for reducing disease mortality rates while improving cure rates. Atrial fibrillation, for instance, has a high fatality rate and leaves an extremely narrow window for emergency intervention. Consequently, historical survival rates for this condition were very low. However, current scientific research indicates that relevant warning signs can appear 2–3 days before the onset of such conditions. The development of innovative technologies, such as wearable devices, enables more effective disease management, thereby facilitating the practical implementation of early screening, diagnosis, and treatment to ultimately prevent disease occurrence.
It is evident that leveraging technological innovation to address challenges in disease screening, diagnosis, and treatment—not only effectively improving cure rates but also alleviating patients’ financial and psychosocial burdens—is a crucial component of achieving high-quality development in healthcare.
The Importance of Medical Innovation Has Been Validated; The Next Step Is to Discuss What Kind of Innovation the Healthcare Sector Truly Needs?
Innovation must not be blind; it should be guided by clinical needs and explore innovative technologies based on extensive clinical trial data.
In his report titled “An Introduction to the Application of Innovative Thinking in Orthopedics,” Hou Zhiyong, President of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Medical University, shared the discovery process of a special type of fracture—distal third tibial fractures combined with posterior malleolar fractures—which is often misdiagnosed or overlooked. Using this case as an example, he explored how innovation can be effectively implemented in clinical practice.Hou Zhiyong believes that innovation requires attention to detail, with no clinical detail overlooked. Furthermore, it demands in-depth reflection and synthesis. Merely pursuing innovation without strategic thought is not a viable approach.
Dean Zhou Demin of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Peking University delivered a presentation titled “The Material Basis of Important Antiviral Agents: Insights from Pentacyclic Triterpenes.” He shared how his team, through extensive experimentation, identified drug targets and elucidated the material basis of the antiviral activity of pentacyclic triterpenes. Their work sought to verify the antiviral active compounds in traditional Chinese medicines such as Isatis indigotica (Banlangen) and Dipsacus asperoides (Chuanxuduan). This research aimed to clarify the structure–activity relationships of pentacyclic triterpenes and address specific questions regarding conformational changes in viral membrane proteins induced by these compounds. By employing scientific approaches to identify the effective substances in traditional Chinese medicine, this work lays a foundation for driving innovation.
Through the insights shared by two experts,It is clear that scientific innovation is not a lofty or pretentious endeavor; rather, it emerges from and returns to the details, representing a process of continuously validating the potential for innovation through critical thinking, summarization, and extensive experimentation. The sources of innovative discoveries are neither confined to trending topics addressing isolated problems nor detached from clinical reality. Instead, they stem from identifying pivotal points for innovation within overlooked clinical details. For instance, by identifying antiviral active substances in currently widely used drugs, further validating their efficacy, and then extending the innovation, we can maximize the value of existing compounds.
Nowadays, the healthcare industry often sees a rush to address single issues, excessive enthusiasm for certain projects, and a frequent lack of confidence in innovative initiatives that require longer timeframes. This not only hinders scientific research innovation and the translation of results into practical applications but also leads to a certain degree of waste of market resources.
Scientific innovation should be approached with a more rational mindset. It is neither a blind pursuit nor mere unfettered imagination. Experts should start from clinical needs, adopt an evidence-based medicine perspective, attempt to answer previously unanswerable questions, and continuously validate the potential for innovation through basic research and experimentation. The market should dialectically assess the gap between basic research and translational outcomes on a case-by-case basis, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach.
Market translation may place greater emphasis on its ability to solve current practical problems, whereas basic research often involves sustained exploration into the fundamental nature of those problems. While some projects exhibit a tight link between basic research and commercialization, others may require significantly more time to translate their findings into tangible outcomes.
However, with the continuous advancement of technological innovation, the responsibility for driving such innovation has shifted from being shouldered primarily by research institutes in the past to becoming a collective endeavor involving the entire society. On one hand, the state has developed comprehensive plans to promote collaboration among universities, research institutes, and enterprises. On the other hand, industries have begun to engage more closely with research institutes, strengthening communication and cooperation based on a deeper understanding of market demands, thereby delivering solutions that create societal value.
The Peking University–Baiyao Medical Center represents a novel innovation model of university-enterprise collaboration, dedicated to scientific research, talent development, and the translation of research findings.
Since its establishment, the Peking University–Baiyao Medical Center has set its course to “become a world-class center for medical technological innovation and translation of research achievements.” Aligning with national needs and emphasizing frontier-oriented and internationalized development, the Center seeks to foster in-depth collaboration in areas such as health science research and the creation of demonstration bases for industry–academia–research innovation, further exploring future medicine as its core developmental direction. By building an interdisciplinary collaborative innovation platform, it supports scientific research and innovative breakthroughs in fields including oncology, reproductive medicine, trauma orthopedics, pharmacy, stomatology, and medical aesthetics.
Regarding this form of collaboration, Zhang Ning, Deputy Director of the Peking University–Baiyao Medical Center, stated“Both industry and research institutes are eager to truly facilitate the translation of scientific achievements. The collaboration between Peking University and Yunnan Baiyao is, in essence, an exploration of an innovation-driven development model based on the integration of ‘industry, academia, and research.’ We aim to expand the application scope of our partner’s products and enhance their scientific rigor by injecting scientific research capabilities and innovative vitality. Meanwhile, we seek to sustain the company’s stable growth through scientific and technological advancement, with the goal of transforming it into an innovative international enterprise possessing core proprietary technologies.”
Basic medical research and core technologies urgently require innovative breakthroughs, and the development of the health industry needs to be led and supported by science and technology. Most patents for clinical drugs initially originate from abroad, most large-scale medical equipment is imported from overseas, and most clinical practice guidelines draw on international standards. China’s biomedical technology and industry remain underdeveloped, and technological innovation in biomedicine has not yet truly become a powerful driver of the country’s economic and social development. The future presents both challenges and opportunities.
Despite the accelerated implementation of current policies and sustained increases in project investment by capital institutions, China’s independent innovation capacity still requires further enhancement. Serious challenges remain, including the lack of key technologies for industrialization, inadequate industry financing and investment channels, a disconnect between technological innovation and market and social benefits, and the relatively small scale of the biotechnology industry. How to effectively integrate the academic innovation chain with the industrial innovation chain is an urgent question that needs to be addressed.
Only through interdisciplinary integration, the convergence of medicine and engineering, and the collaborative development of industry, academia, and research can medicine remain vibrant and the healthcare industry achieve sustained growth driven by technological innovation.