Pioneering Innovation in the New Era of Biopharma: Nanshan District, Shenzhen Submits IPO Prospectus
With continuous breakthroughs in global scientific research and technology, sustained improvements in internal and external environmental demands, and ongoing policy support from various countries, the 21st century has officially entered a golden age of biopharmaceutical development. Meanwhile, influenced by factors such as China’s rapid economic growth, constantly changing living environments, shifts in public health concepts, and an accelerating aging process,The biopharmaceutical industry is widely regarded as a “perpetual sunrise industry” and is experiencing rapid growth in China. From the national level to local governments, active strategic planning and support are being implemented to foster the development of this sector.
At the national level, in recent years, China has successively introduced measures to accelerate the review and approval of innovative drugs, expedite the entry of overseas new drugs into the domestic market, implement the Marketing Authorization Holder (MAH) system, and encourage high-quality innovative drugs to align with international standards. Landmark policy documents, including the “Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the Review and Approval System to Encourage Innovation in Drugs and Medical Devices” and the “Notice on Organizing the Implementation of Special Projects for the Construction of Contract Research and Manufacturing Service Platforms for Biopharmaceuticals,” have also been rolled out one after another, further fueling the robust development of the biopharmaceutical industry.
In the 14th Five-Year Plan and the Outline of Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 of various provinces and municipalities this year,Keywords such as biological vaccines, marine biomedicine, major scientific and technological breakthroughs, breakthroughs and applications of key core technologies, chemical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and biopharmaceuticals were mentioned multiple times., further underscoring the importance of the biopharmaceutical industry.
As a vanguard of China’s reform and opening-up, an important window for foreign trade and exchange, and one of the earliest innovation benchmarks for developing biomedical industry clusters in China, Shenzhen has consistently supported the continuous growth of domestic healthcare innovation enterprises. Seizing the significant historical opportunities presented by the “Dual-Zone” development strategy and the comprehensive reform pilot program, Shenzhen successively released policy documents such as the “1+3” framework in 2020, aiming to establish the biomedical industry as a new engine of economic growth.
As the birthplace of China’s reform and opening-up policy and the innovation-leading district for Shenzhen’s biopharmaceutical industry, Nanshan District promptly responded to Shenzhen’s strategies and plans by successively releasing the “Implementation Plan for Promoting the Leading Development of the Biopharmaceutical Industry in Nanshan District (2021–2025)” and the “Several Measures for Promoting the Leading Development of the Biopharmaceutical Industry in Nanshan District” this June.To provide guidance and support for further advancing the high-quality development of the biopharmaceutical industry.
Standing at a new historical juncture marked by the rapid development of China’s biopharmaceutical industry, Nanshan District has once again demonstrated its pioneering spirit of “daring to break new ground” and “innovating,” reminiscent of its role in firing the first shot of China’s reform and opening-up. Leveraging its resource advantages and riding the tailwinds of regional industrial growth, the district is committed to establishing itself as a benchmark for the development of Shenzhen’s biopharmaceutical sector.
Situated on the east bank of the Pearl River Estuary, Nanshan District in central-western Shenzhen boasts a prime geographical location, nestled between mountains and the sea.
Bounded to the east by Chegongmiao, adjacent to Futian District; extending west to Nantou Anle Village and Chiwei Village, connecting with Bao'an District; backed to the north by Yangtai Mountain, bordering Bao'an District and Longhua New District; facing Shekou Port, Dachan Island, and Neilingding Island to the south; separated from Yuen Long, Hong Kong, across Shenzhen Bay to the southeast; and overlooking Macau and Zhuhai across the Pearl River Estuary to the southwest.Favorable geographical development conditions enabled Nanshan to secure pilot opportunities for prioritized industrial development in the early years of the People’s Republic of China, thereby accumulating more industrial resources than typical cities.Here, China’s first industrial zone open to the outside world—Shekou Industrial Zone—the country’s first joint-stock commercial bank—China Merchants Bank—and its first joint-stock insurance enterprise—Ping An Insurance—were established.
After years of development and construction, Nanshan District now boasts a highly favorable business environment and is acclaimed as “the district in China with the strongest Silicon Valley vibe.” Furthermore,As Shenzhen’s “Pioneer Zone for Biopharmaceutical Industry Innovation,” Nanshan has cultivated unique locational advantages for its pharmaceutical sector, demonstrating a clustering effect of leading enterprises and exhibiting significant strengths in new drug development.The region is home to numerous universities and research institutions, leading biopharmaceutical enterprises, specialized industrial parks, and clinical organizations, forming a relatively complete closed-loop industry chain.
In terms of scientific research capabilities,Nanshan District is home to 80% of the city’s higher education institutions and R&D organizations specializing in biomedicine, hosts three Nobel laureate laboratories in the biomedical field—including the Edvard Moser Laboratory for Neural Plasticity—and brings together approximately 167 innovation platforms such as key laboratories, engineering centers, and public technical service platforms, among which 11 are national-level innovation platforms.
In terms of industrial strength,Nanshan District has cultivated a cohort of industry-leading enterprises, including Mindray Medical, Joincare Pharmaceutical, Chipscreen Biosciences, and Lifetech Scientific, fostering a development landscape characterized by the agglomeration of leading and innovative companies.
After years of dedicated development, Nanshan has laid a solid foundation for the growth of the regional biopharmaceutical industry. Looking ahead, how Nanshan will leverage its existing pool of scientific and technological talent, along with its advantages in industrial clustering and location, to build a domestically leading and internationally first-class innovation hub for the biopharmaceutical industry may be gleaned from its latest policy guidelines.
The two documents, the “Implementation Plan for Promoting the Leading Development of the Biopharmaceutical Industry in Nanshan District (2021–2025)” and the “Several Measures for Promoting the Leading Development of the Biopharmaceutical Industry in Nanshan District,” adhere to the basic principles of upholding independent innovation, improving shared services, focusing on key areas, and emphasizing intensive development, supplemented by relevant preferential policies and service measures.It aims to attract a cohort of high-level talents and innovative teams, cultivate a group of capable and promising innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), gather a cluster of industry-leading companies with international influence, and develop a number of specialized and distinctive industrial parks., crafting Nanshan’s external brand image as a “domestically leading, internationally first-class innovation hub.”
In upholding independent innovation, the Nanshan District Government is actively promoting original innovation from “0” to “1.”Focusing on cutting-edge basic research, we will deepen the integration of digital technologies to drive the convergence of biotechnology (BT) and information technology (IT), and promote the application of artificial intelligence in disease diagnosis, drug development, and large-scale data processing. We will strategically lay out major innovative drug R&D initiatives, providing phased funding support for independently developed innovative biomedical products based on different stages of R&D completed after the enterprise registers in Nanshan District, with a maximum annual subsidy of RMB 20 million per enterprise. We also encourage enterprises within the jurisdiction to establish joint laboratories with local universities in the field of biomedicine to carry out technological R&D and talent cultivation, offering corresponding financial support.
In improving shared services, establish a system for sharing scientific and technological resources.Leveraging public technical service platforms as a key instrument, we will establish core service platforms for basic research, applied basic research, and biomedical contract research and development (CRO) services. We will continuously promote the open sharing of various factor resources, coordinate the formation of a biomedical resource-sharing alliance, and comprehensively enhance the level of shared services in the biomedical industry.
For innovation platforms that provide public services to meet the common needs of technological R&D and achievement transformation in the biopharmaceutical industry—such as clinical translation, biopharmaceutical safety evaluation, CRO (Contract Research Organization), and CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization)—generous rewards and subsidies will be granted. Public service innovation platforms approved by the district’s science and technology authorities shall receive annual subsidies of up to RMB 20 million for a period not exceeding three consecutive years. In addition, a one-time subsidy equal to 50% of renovation costs will be provided, and full rental subsidies for industrial premises leased by the platform will be covered for up to three years. The cumulative subsidy amount shall not exceed RMB 8 million.
Focus on key areas and optimize integrated innovation.In response to the critical needs of the biopharmaceutical industry for both current and long-term future development, Nanshan District is strategically prioritizing the R&D of major innovative drugs, supporting the expansion of the precision medicine sector, and driving the biopharmaceutical industry toward leadership.
In promoting intensive development, we actively introduce high-quality talent teams and build intensive, efficient industrial parks.Nanshan District adheres to the concept of intensive development, makes full use of its existing spatial resources, and focuses on leveraging its two core advantages: technological innovation and talent agglomeration. It aims to establish an integrated support system for industrial parks, encompassing platform services, financial services, talent support, intellectual property protection, customs technical trade services, and brand promotion. This initiative seeks to attract flagship benchmark enterprises in niche sectors, cultivate and strengthen high-growth small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), enhance the professional service level of industrial parks, build specialized incubators, and form shared high-end manufacturing bases.
Upholding the principle that “talent is the primary resource,” Nanshan District adheres to a talent-driven development strategy and makes substantial efforts to attract high-end talents and high-quality enterprise teams. Following the release of this policy document, drug marketing authorization holders (MAHs) newly relocating to Nanshan District are eligible for tiered cash rewards based on the approval numbers of different drug categories, with a maximum reward of RMB 10 million per applicant entity. Cash grants, as well as subsidies for industrial property rent and renovation, are also provided to biopharmaceutical enterprises established in Nanshan District by top-tier talents recognized through national evaluations, enterprises that have been approved as Guangdong Province-introduced innovation and entrepreneurship teams, and those included in Shenzhen’s high-level talent team projects. Other preferential policies are not detailed here.
To further attract top talent from around the world, drive innovation through talent, leverage Nanshan’s distinctive advantages, and promote the transformation and upgrading of the biomedical industry, the “2021 Future Medical Technology Trends (Xili Lake) Forum,” hosted by the People’s Government of Nanshan District, organized by the Nanshan District Science and Technology Innovation Bureau, and co-organized by VCBeat, will be held in Nanshan, Shenzhen on October 14.
Click the image to register for the conference.
This conference is themed“Deep Synergy: Exploring Frontier Technologies, Harnessing Industrial Strength, and Pioneering a New Future in Healthcare”Centered on the theme of advancing frontier technological innovation and application, anchored in building a robust biopharmaceutical industry ecosystem, and bringing together national academicians, industry leaders, top-tier investors, and core resources from the medical technology innovation ecosystem, with the aim of creatingA global platform for sharing cutting-edge technologies in the future healthcare industry, connecting industrial resources, facilitating industry exchange and cooperation, and publishing trends in future healthcare, to build an innovation ecosystem in Nanshan characterized by “service leadership, innovation-driven growth, enterprise-centric focus, and high-end agglomeration,” thereby propelling the leading development of the biopharmaceutical industry in Nanshan District.
This conference takes the opportunity to explore and discuss the latest frontier technologies and hot topics in the biopharmaceutical industry, with a particular focus onAI-Driven New Drug Development, Cell andGeneTreatmentTwo major tracks, aiming to explore pathways for industrial transformation from a global innovation development perspective, discuss the future of the biopharmaceutical industry in the post-pandemic era, and grasp the direction of future healthcare development.
At the conference, representatives from the Nanshan District Government will provide further authoritative interpretation of the district’s business environment for the biopharmaceutical industry, offering direction and guidance to facilitate the establishment of benchmark enterprises in specialized sectors and the incubation of innovative projects.We hereby welcome everyone to register for the “Deep Convergence – Exploring Frontier Technologies, Mobilizing Industrial Strength, and Pioneering a New Future in Healthcare” 2021 Future Medical Technology Trends (Xili Lake) Forum. At the same time, we sincerely invite our partners to join Shenzhen Nanshan District’s “Innovative Healthcare Ecosystem Circle,” contributing to the advancement of medical innovation in China.
October 14, Shenzhen·Nanshan. We look forward to meeting you.
Registration Method: Scan the QR code below and complete the required information to register for the 2021 Future Medical Technology Trends (Xili Lake) Forum and submit your application for collaboration with Nanshan District, Shenzhen.
Conference Time: October 14, 2021 (Thursday) 9:30-17:30
Venue: Shenzhen Talent Research Institute
Registration Link:http://hdxu.cn/pgfQW