(Yicai) Nov. 18 -- Pudong New Area is becoming a cluster for Chinese biomedical enterprises, with over one-third of China's top 100 pharmaceutical firms laying out their business there, according to the head of the pilot free trade zone in Shanghai.

The biomedical industry in Pudong New Area reached CNY378.2 billion (USD52.3 billion) last year, accounting for over 40 percent of Shanghai's total, Wu Jincheng said at the 2024 China Pharmaceutical Industry Development Conference yesterday. Some 15 percent of Class 1 new drugs and 10 percent of innovative medical devices in China come from the zone, he added.

The Pudong New Area has set up a CNY22.5 billion (USD3.1 billion) parent fund for the biomedical industry, Wu noted. Plants in the area cover more than 4.5 million square meters, with the biomedical industry having the largest share, he pointed out.

The Pudong New Area will stay focused on forming a world-class biomedical industry hub, giving full play to the zone's advantages and introducing more incentive policies for industrial development, such as exploring a pilot project of independent pricing for innovative drugs, Wu said.

"The Pudong Life Sciences Industry Service Ecosystem Map Version 1.0," which debuted at the conference yesterday, shows the full-supply-chain service resources that biomedical firms in Pudong New Area can enjoy, Cao Li, assistant general manager of the Pudong Life Sciences Industry Development, told Yicai. Guided by the map, upstream and downstream companies in the industry can achieve more precise and efficient docking, Cao added.

The map includes the full cycle of professional and technical service institutions and companies in the life sciences industry in Pudong New Area, from research and development to production, including emerging and frontier enterprises in cell and gene therapy, synthetic biology, artificial intelligence-driven pharmaceutical development, and other fields, Cao said. It also gathers the life sciences industry service ecosystem in the zone, including many professional and technical service institutions and enterprises, Cao noted.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev