Nanjing elevates biomedicine industry to new heights

Eastern China's Nanjing is committed to making the biomedicine industry one of its leading industrial clusters, as part of the city's efforts to foster new quality productive forces, a city official said Monday.

Nanjing Biotech and Pharmaceutical Valley. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

Wu Gang, deputy head of the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, said that Nanjing benefits from rich educational and industrial resources, which provide a strong foundation for the development of biomedicine and biopharmaceutical industries.

Data shows that the city is home to four specialized colleges and over 20 key universities offering related programs. Each year, more than 60,000 graduates in the city complete their studies in biomedicine, ranking among the top in China.

In addition, Wu said that the city has developed a complete industrial chain in the biomedicine sector, integrating education, research, industrialization, and clinical application.

Nanjing has been hard at work to upgrade its biomedicine industry. In 2020, it introduced several key policies including a five-year plan for biomedicine industry development and an action plan for building a biomedicine industry cluster. These policies have provided comprehensive support for high-quality growth, with specific measures to foster R&D innovation, facilitate technology transfer, streamline regulatory approvals, and ensure talent development.

The efforts have paid off. In 2024, Nanjing's biomedicine industry generated over 210 billion yuan (US$29.25 billion) in revenue, up 5% from the previous year. Additionally, Nanjing now hosts 1,032 high-tech biomedicine enterprises and 35 national-level "little giant" firms, or small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that use specialized and sophisticated technologies to produce novel and unique products. 

At the core of this success is the Nanjing Biotech and Pharmaceutical Valley (NJBPV), a biopharma industrial park located in Nanjing Jiangbei New Area. Established in 2011, NJBPV is home to over 1,300 life sciences companies, including five listed firms and 53 cutting-edge SMEs.

A lab at biopharmaceutical company IASO Bio. [Photo by Cui Can/China.org.cn]

"The valley focuses on gene and cell therapies, innovative drugs, and high-end medical devices," said Yang Tao, deputy director of the Life and Health Industry Development Management Office of Nanjing Jiangbei New Area. He added that over 400 drugs developed by pharmaceutical companies in the valley have already received market approval in China.

Yang also noted that Nanjing Jiangbei New Area encourages these pharmaceutical companies to expand their footprint by providing tailored support regarding operational needs, regulatory requirements, and market entry challenges.

For instance, IASO Bio, located in NJBPV, is a leading biopharmaceutical company specializing in innovative cell therapies. The company reached a milestone in recent months by delivering to a resident in Hong Kong its flagship CAR-T therapy, a cutting-edge cancer treatment, according to Zhang Jinhua, the firm's founder and CEO. 

The therapy requires strict time control when transporting the patient's blood samples to IASO Bio for the production of CAR-T cell therapy drug, which was then delivered across the border to Hong Kong. Zhang said that after learning about the company's needs, Nanjing Jiangbei New Area worked with local customs authorities to streamline clearance procedures, reducing delivery time to under 30 hours for blood samples and 144 hours for the final cell products.

"After successfully establishing a cross-border delivery channel through Hong Kong, we're now applying to expand this model to more regions and countries," Zhang said.