China-Europe Center Aims to Build 'Zhongguancun of Biopharma' with Full-Chain Innovation Ecosystem

Recently, a young research team from Pleryon attended GRIBOI 2026, the Global Conference on Biomaterials for Bone and Joint Applications, a premier international conference in the field of injectable biomaterials and clinical applications for bone and joint disorders. The conference was held in Luohu District, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, which is also where Pleryon is headquartered.

The conference is hosted by the China-Europe Innovation Center for Medicine and Health (hereinafter referred to as the “China-Europe Medicine Center”), which was established in 2023 and jointly built by the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as “Shenzhen Advanced Institute”) and the Luohu District Government. Pleryon is an incubated enterprise of the China-Europe Medicine Center, and one of its core products has received approval from Health Canada for first-in-human clinical trials this year.

Recently, a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network visited the China-Europe Pharmaceutical Center. The GMP laboratory (a laboratory compliant with Good Manufacturing Practice requirements for pharmaceuticals—editor’s note) on the sixth floor of the center covers a total area of approximately 1,500 square meters. Aligned with global pharmaceutical regulatory standards, it serves as a compliant platform for R&D, pilot-scale trials, and production targeting international markets, constituting the core hardware infrastructure of the China-Europe Pharmaceutical Center.

Pan Haobo is the Director of the Institute of Medicine at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, and also the Chairman of the China-Europe Pharmaceutical Center. He told reporters, "The low translation rate of basic medicine has always been a pain point in medical translation. The industrialization process of biomedicine can be divided into three stages: universities and research institutes work together to achieve breakthroughs from 0 to 1 in basic research, laying the foundation for innovation. At this point, scientists face the most challenging second stage, which is moving from 1 to 10, transforming uncertain technologies into manageable prototype projects with controlled risks. Only then will pharmaceutical companies and capital have the opportunity to scale up infinitely from 10 to 100."

Yu Yu, CEO of Pleryon, also told reporters that for early-stage innovative pharmaceutical companies, even with mature theoretical achievements, the process from basic research to commercialization is a matter of life and death for the enterprise.

The biopharmaceutical industry differs from other sectors in its highly specialized requirements for R&D equipment, facilities, and the social networks essential for project development. How can laboratory samples be transformed into standardized raw materials? How can companies navigate the regulatory registration and compliance processes? Many startup pharmaceutical companies even refer to the stage from 1 to 10 as the “Valley of Death.”

The China-EU Medical Center Offers More Imaginative Space and Possibilities. According to Yu Qiuliang, the relevant person in charge of the center, it has built a large-scale biomedical science and technology innovation space equipped with key facilities such as a cell production center and a synthetic biology platform. In collaboration with the multinational pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, the center has jointly established the first cross-border pharmaceutical enterprise joint innovation incubator in the Greater Bay Area, covering scenarios such as drug development, medical device registration, and cell therapy, all meeting international top-tier pharmaceutical R&D standards.

According to Pan Haobo, leveraging the numerous achievements of the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology in the fields of cell therapy and gene therapy, and through the China-Europe Medical Center—a comprehensive innovation platform for the entire biomedical industry chain—cutting-edge basic research findings are expected to be accelerated into services that benefit patients suffering from major and rare diseases.

According to Qiu Liyang, the laboratory features a Class C+A cleanroom area, adopts a physical separation design for personnel and material flows, and is equipped with a dedicated freight elevator. The seven core functional modules comprise the GMP cleanroom area, the personnel and material flow separation system, the microbial safety testing laboratory, the shared precision instrument area, the cell preparation area, the quality control area, and the 5A-grade cell bank. Among these, the 5A-grade cell bank serves as the national benchmark for standardized cell resources.

The China-Europe Pharmaceutical Center functions as a “proof-of-concept center.” Pan Haobo uses the “fishpond model” to explain the center’s new operational paradigm: “A fishpond must first have an ecosystem. The fingerlings represent the intellectual property of the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology. The growth of these small fingerlings is a lengthy process that requires feed, resources, cross-disciplinary integration, and the participation of social capital.”

Wu Zhengbin, Deputy General Manager of the Sino-European Medical Center, further elaborated, “The Sino-European Medical Center is located in close proximity to its parent hospital, and the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology is supported by over 100 world-class scientists.”

The site selection for the China-Europe Medical Center is highly strategic. Luohu District is a hub for Grade A tertiary hospitals in Shenzhen and is located adjacent to Hong Kong. Yu Qiuyang stated, “Our goal is to bridge the information asymmetry among government bodies, enterprises, capital, medical institutions, and talent, thereby accelerating the clinical translation of scientific research achievements.”

Meanwhile, the China-Europe Pharmaceutical Center has also jointly established the Eurasian Translational Medicine Center with the Academia Europaea, forming a tripartite layout comprising the Shenzhen R&D headquarters, the Zhuhai production base, and the global expansion base.

Currently, we are in a period of policy dividends. China has implemented a "dual-track system" in the biopharmaceutical industry: the traditional IND (Investigational New Drug) application pathway for drug approval, and the IIT (Investigator-Initiated Trial) clinical research pathway led by hospital Principal Investigators (PIs). After passing academic and ethical reviews, new biomedical technologies can be filed with the National Health Commission to conduct clinical studies. This shifts the process from an approval-based system to a much simpler filing-based system, significantly shortening the startup cycle.

On May 1 this year, the Regulations on the Administration of Clinical Research and Clinical Translational Application of New Biomedical Technologies (State Council Decree No. 818) officially came into effect. Through the “818” compliance window, overseas scientists can use the China-Europe Medical Center as a forward base to rapidly connect with local hospitals and obtain core clinical validation data in compliance with regulations in a shorter timeframe.

“Riding the favorable policy winds, we are building an eco-town in the field of the biopharmaceutical industry,” said Pan Haobo. He stated that once completed, the town will attract innovators from all sectors to gather there and create a biopharmaceutical industry “Zhongguancun”。

Source: China Youth Daily