In the New Normal, Innovation Remains the Core Driver of Progress in the Healthcare Industry

In 2020, the healthcare industry continued to thrive at an accelerated pace despite the shadow of the pandemic, with China playing an increasingly pivotal role in the global pharmaceutical and health sector.

As a long-term companion to China’s innovative pharmaceutical and healthcare enterprises, China Renaissance hosted the 8th China Renaissance Healthcare and Life Sciences Leadership Summit on October 30 under the theme “New Normal, New Momentum.” Nearly 100 distinguished guests gathered for the event, including Dr. Xiaobin Wu, General Manager and President of BeiGene China; Dr. Ye Yin, CEO of BGI Group; Dr. Jingwu Zang, Founder and Chairman of I-Mab Biopharma; Dr. Guoliang Yu, Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Apollomics; and Dr. Weijun Chen, CEO of BGI PathoGenesis Pharmaceutical Technology (BGI-PT), among others.

After years of dedicated cultivation, China Renaissance’s healthcare and wellness division has achieved comprehensive coverage across several cutting-edge sectors in China and globally, including biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics and genetic testing, medical devices, healthcare services, smart healthcare, and internet-based healthcare. Leveraging capabilities spanning both primary and secondary markets—such as private financing, mergers and acquisitions, securities underwriting and issuance, private placements, and private equity investment—China Renaissance has provided full-lifecycle capital market services to more than 150 leading enterprises in the healthcare and life sciences industries. Over the past eight years, the China Renaissance Healthcare and Life Sciences Leaders Summit has become an annual flagship event, facilitating the sharing of industry trends and fostering multi-perspective, multi-level exchanges among entrepreneurs, industry thought leaders, and investors.

Wu Xiaobin, General Manager and President of BeiGene China

Yin Ye, CEO of BGI Group

As China’s healthcare reforms continue to deepen and transform, Chinese medical device and diagnostics companies are beginning to contribute intelligent “Made in China” solutions on a global scale. Emerging biopharmaceutical enterprises are continuously driving innovation, while capital markets across various regions in China have introduced reform measures to fuel the industry’s rapid growth.

At the summit,

In Bao Fan’s view, the healthcare industry and the broader healthcare system shouldered significant social responsibilities during the pandemic. In the long run, however, the pandemic has further heightened societal attention to the healthcare sector, and the downstream effects of policy support and resource allocation will gradually come to light.

As the initial battle against the pandemic achieved success, China’s economy rebounded rapidly, restoring confidence in the capital markets. Since May, the healthcare and life sciences sectors have shown particularly strong performance in the primary market, with frequent blockbuster deals; meanwhile, in the secondary market, IPO activity in the biotech and health segment of the STAR Market has been robust, leading the broader market.According to preliminary statistics, the number of private equity financing and IPO projects related to Chinese medical enterprises, as well as the amount of funds raised in the first three quarters of 2020, showed an astonishing increase compared to 2019. It is expected that both will double by the end of the year. Thanks to the policy dividends of the STAR Market on the A-share market, the IPO fundraising amount in the first three quarters of this year has already reached four times that of the entire year of 2019.

As the market rises rapidly, challenges are inevitable. Looking ahead to the next five years and beyond, the external environment and internal conditions facing the development of China’s healthcare industry will undergo a series of profound and complex changes.

In his speech, Bao Fan noted that China is in the final sprint toward the decisive victory of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. With the realization of this centenary goal, the middle-income group will gradually expand, becoming a massive engine driving the development of key sectors such as healthcare, consumption, and new infrastructure. However, from a global perspective, persistently sluggish economic growth may lead to a prolonged period of severe external economic conditions. “Under these circumstances, China has proposed establishing a new development pattern with the domestic economic cycle as the mainstay, while allowing the ‘dual circulation’ to reinforce each other. This strategic transition is now imperative.”

Amid the current complex environment, Bao Fan believes that two forces will shape the future trajectory of the healthcare industry:

First, there is the top-down force of government-led policies and national strategies.Key healthcare reform policies—most notably cost containment within medical insurance, elevated quality standards for generic drugs and medical devices, strengthened primary care infrastructure, and enhanced capabilities in disease control and biosafety prevention—are driving industry standardization, facilitating structural optimization (“swapping old for new”), and fostering innovation. Meanwhile, the promotion of the domestic circulation and dual-circulation strategies has accelerated the substitution of imported pharmaceuticals and medical devices with domestically produced alternatives, thereby boosting the development of relevant Chinese enterprises.

The second force is a top-down, even cross-industry, driver led by entrepreneurs and scientists, namely, the upgrading and transformation of the traditional healthcare industry through the adoption of new infrastructure and technology platforms.With the support of China Renaissance, XtalPi recently set a global record for the highest financing amount in the field of AI-driven drug discovery, leveraging AI technologies to upgrade pharmaceutical development processes. Schrödinger has overcome bottlenecks in small-molecule drug development by utilizing quantum physics and high-performance computing platforms. In addition, other independent innovation cases have emerged: Shenzhou Medical accelerates clinical development of new drugs through medical big data; HighCharm Bio enhances antibody drug development efficiency using automated high-throughput screening technologies; MGI Tech develops ultra-high-throughput sequencing technologies to accelerate the digital decoding of life; and AI algorithms are being applied to early screening and diagnosis of future diseases.

The healthcare industry requires greater policy and financial support to continuously achieve transformation and upgrading. Yet, what remains most indispensable is the steady emergence of outstanding entrepreneurs, along with their perseverance and enterprising spirit. As a long-term partner in the capital markets, China Renaissance has consistently accompanied China’s leading new-economy enterprises and their founders throughout their full lifecycle growth.

“We are ushering in a new wave of prosperity in the healthcare market."Huaxing has gained profound insights from its frontline position in the industry," he stated. Judging by the performance of Huaxing Capital’s Healthcare and Wellness sector in the first three quarters, the total value of completed private financing transactions exceeded USD 3 billion, securities underwriting transactions reached USD 700 million, and private equity investments amounted to RMB 1 billion. Driven by the organic synergy among investment banking, investment, and securities businesses, Huaxing’s healthcare sector achieved a positive cycle in 2020, with its internal ecosystem already established. Among the top five largest financing deals in the healthcare industry year-to-date, Huaxing Capital participated in half of them. Bao Fan emphasized,“Behind these numbers lies our original aspiration—to help China’s most outstanding healthcare entrepreneurs make their mark in the capital markets.”

Since the establishment of its Healthcare and Life Sciences team in 2015, China Renaissance has remained deeply committed to the industry, staying attuned to the most cutting-edge developments in the healthcare and life sciences sectors both in China and globally. By providing dedicated support to outstanding companies and entrepreneurs, it leverages the synergies between the primary and secondary markets to deliver comprehensive, cross-market, and cross-stage capital market services throughout the entire corporate lifecycle.While successfully assisting star enterprises such as MGI Tech, XtalPi, Genetron Health, InnoCare Pharma, Lianya Pharmaceuticals, and Sinocelltech in completing private equity financing, China Renaissance has, since helping BeiGene list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2018, facilitated the successful listings of more than a dozen leading healthcare and life sciences companies—including WuXi AppTec, I-Mab, and Ascentage Pharma—on multiple capital markets. Many of these partners have been supported and accompanied by China Renaissance since their inception.

Furthermore, China Renaissance’s capital market platform capabilities have been fully demonstrated in the healthcare sector. Through the concerted efforts of its three core business segments—investment banking, investment, and securities—it has successively facilitated private financing, equity investments, and initial public offerings (IPOs) for multiple companies, including I-Mab Biopharma and MicroPort Endovascular MedTech.

As stated by Bao Fan,“Under the new normal, innovation remains the core driving force behind progress in the healthcare industry.”“Only by relying on talent, capital, and cross-disciplinary technological innovation to continuously break boundaries can the healthcare industry fully achieve digital transformation, creating a healthier and more vibrant future for humanity.” The road ahead is long and challenging, but perseverance will lead to success. In the future, CRP-FANYA will continue to stand side by side with entrepreneurs and China’s healthcare industry.

The summit covered hot topics in the healthcare industry, including medical innovation, medical devices, in vitro diagnostics (IVD), antibody-based novel drugs, gene and cell therapy, oncology treatment, new drugs for epidemic response, healthcare plus technology, and healthcare services. Stay tuned for more insightful highlights from the forum in upcoming releases.

The annual China Renaissance Healthcare and Life Sciences Leaders Summit serves as a platform for China Renaissance to engage with entrepreneurs, key opinion leaders, and investors in exchanging insights on industry trends and perspectives. The summit convenes top scientists, corporate CEOs, and investors from the global healthcare and life sciences sectors. Numerous distinguished guests have been invited to participate in the summit:

Ba Shusong, Chief China Economist of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Chen Haibin, Chairman of Dian Diagnostics

Chen Qiyu, Non-Executive Director of Fosun Pharma

Cheng Minghe, Director and General Manager of Mindray Medical

Hu Lan, Founder and President of Amcare

Hu Zhengguo, Global Chief Investment Officer of WuXi AppTec

Jiang Ningjun, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CStone Pharmaceuticals

Lu Xianping, Founder, Chairman and General Manager of Chipscreen Biosciences

Rao Yi, renowned biologist

Wu Guangming, Chairman of Yuwell Medical

Yu Dechao, Chairman of Innovent Biologics