Focus on R&D, entrepreneurship to boost new drugs and development

Could Chinese pharmaceutical companies help mass-produce certain drugs to strengthen the global fight against COVID-19 that is already in its third year, and thus show that their products can be game-changers? Such a question won't be dismissed in a jiffy anymore, industry insiders said.

Given the contagious Omicron variants, what might prove effective are mass-produced, low-cost small-molecule oral antiviral drugs that can be stored easily and accessed widely by outpatients, they said.

To that end, Chinese pharmaceutical companies have been making increasing contributions.

For instance, Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co Ltd, a Chinese innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company, announced in March a global phase-3 trial on the efficacy and safety of VV116, a treatment candidate for moderate to severe COVID-19.

The investigational drug is jointly developed by Junshi Biosciences and several other domestic entities, including Vigonvita Life Sciences Co Ltd and three institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

A phase-2 clinical trial of VV116 completed in subjects with moderate to severe COVID-19 in Uzbekistan last year showed two different doses of VV116 had favorable safety and efficacy in the treatment of both moderate and severe COVID-19 patients in comparison with standard therapy.

Based on the positive results, VV116 has been approved for the treatment of moderate to severe COVID-19 patients in Uzbekistan in late 2021. Another global phase-2/3 clinical study of VV116 is ongoing for the early treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 patients.

That is just one example of how biotech and pharmaceutical companies in China, inspired by the national agenda of innovation-driven development, have been ramping up innovation efforts to enhance their research and development activities.

Some of them have been able to conduct world-class R&D on cutting-edge treatments, especially in the biotech sector.

Franck Le Deu, a senior partner with McKinsey & Company, wrote recently on his LinkedIn blog that China has emerged as an important actor in the global biopharma ecosystem, adding a potent additional source of global biopharma innovation and disruption.

Chinese biopharma has very good access to the necessary ingredients for innovation, he wrote in the blog.

China's 2022 Government Work Report said the nation will do more to promote business startups and innovation initiatives and improve the service capacity of entrepreneurship and innovation platforms.

The country needs to promote scientific and technological innovation, to upgrade industries, eliminate the bottlenecks in the supply chain and realize high-quality development through innovation, it said.

Analysts and business leaders said the nation's unwavering efforts to encourage and support innovation have paid off after the State Council, China's Cabinet, released a document on reforming the review and approval system for drugs and medical devices in 2015.