Initiated in 2016, CBIIC, the most popular cooperation platform for pharmaceutical innovation and investment in Asian-Pacific region, has been successfully held for 5 times and received extensive attention and acknowledgment from pharmaceutical and investment industry. 2020 CBIIC remains true to its original principal of promoting the linkage between social capital and pharmaceutical innovation and improve the innovation capability of pharmaceutical industry, further discusses the direction of China’s pharmaceutical innovation and financing development in the Post-COVID-19 era to introduce China’s progress and achievement in pharmaceutical innovation and  establishes high-level platform for innovation leaders, scientists and investors to have precise and efficient cooperation as well as providing the opportunities for industry leaders, experts and media to have in-depth communication.

2020 CBIIC was supported by Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medicine Economic Research Institute, Suzhou Industrial Park, Zhongguancun Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (ZVCA), HongKong Bio-Med Innotech Association (HKBMIA), Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industrial (IBMI), Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Association (JPMA), BioCentury, China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment R&D-based Pharmaceutical Association Committee (RDPAC), Consulate General of Canada in Shanghai. J.P. Morgan was the Exclusive International Financial Institution Sponsor, and Warburg Pincus, Simcere Pharmaceutical, Xian Janssen Pharmaceutical and GTJA Investment Group were the co-organizers of 2020 CBIIC.

Song Ruilin, Executive President of PhIRDA chaired the welcome remarks session in the Opening Ceremony. Ren Jinsheng, Chairman of PhIRDA, Chiarman and CEO of Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, Charles Li, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and Li Yaping, Mayor of Suzhou People's Municipal Government addressed in the session and expressed warm welcome to the participants.

Chair of Welcome Remarks Session: Song Ruilin, Executive President of PhIRDA

Chairman Ren Jinsheng pointed out in his speech that the year 2020 was extraordinary to mankind. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a profound impact on the global economy and brought uncertainty and series of unprecedented challenges to China’s pharmaceutical industry. The next five years will be a key opportunity for the transformation and upgrading of China’s pharmaceutical industry. China’s pharmaceutical innovation and investment should not only pay attention to the internal circulation of market and resource elements, but also make good use of the Chinese elements and advantages boldly and aggressively to facilitate foreign exchange and cooperation, centering on openness and collaboration to promote pharmaceutical innovation and investment. All parties should seize the opportunity to work together with complementary advantages to contribute China’s strength to innovation and investment in the global life sciences field.

Chairman Ren Jinsheng Gave a Welcome Remark

Due to the travel limitation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Charles Li, Chief Executive of HKEX, delivered a virtual welcome remark. He pointed out in his speech that there were 154 healthcare and pharmaceutical enterprises listing in Hong Kong, reaching the market capitalization of 2.6 trillion CYN. Among 154 enterprises, 20 biotech enterprises were listed under the Chapter 18A. According to the market principles, rules, and market supply and demand to determine the frequency, timing and various rules of listing, HKEX gradually made the market become mature. The growth of ecosystem for pharmaceutical innovation depends on the joint effort of all market entities, as an important financial platform, HKEX will manage to facilitate the development of biotech and pharmaceutical industry.

Chief Executive Charles Li Gave a Virtual Welcome Remark

Mayor Li Yaping introduced the progress made by Suzhou in facilitating the development pharmaceutical industry. 8 Suzhou located biopharmaceutical enterprises listed on HKEX and SSE STAR Market and received great attention from investors. In 2019, the city’s biopharmaceutical and healthcare industry achieved revenue of 172.8 billion CNY, increasing 31% compared with 2018. A number of outstanding innovative companies and achievements have emerged, forming a biopharmaceutical industry system with Suzhou Industrial Park centered and biopharmaceutical industry as the core.

Mayor Li Yaping Gave a Welcome Remark

Chen Deming, Former Minister of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China and Chairman of China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment (CAEFI) delivered a speech on the Opening Ceremony.

Chairman Chen Deming stated that enterprises with foreign investment had become a member of China’s pharmaceutical industry. From a practical point of view, the products and services of enterprises with foreign investment generally have a high level of research and development, strict quality control, and good efficacy. They are one of the representatives and leaders of innovation and investment. Enterprises with foreign investment should actively integrate and serve China’s public healthcare industry. In the context of the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic this year, Chinese government has made pharmaceutical sector the pillar industry for the first time, which has comprehensively improved the innovation and development capability of pharmaceutical industry. Enterprises with foreign investment are willing to do their utmost for the innovation and investment of pharmaceutical. He hoped that all the enterprises with foreign investment would work together with domestic enterprises in R&D and continue to contribute to the health of the Chinese people.

Chairman Chen Deming Gave a Remark

Chairman Shang Fulin pointed out in his remark that the medical and healthcare system reform has gone deeper and public health and basic healthcare service is becoming better continually since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. People’s health is an important symbol of national prosperity and social progress. Pharmaceutical innovation and core technological breakthroughs are the keys to build an innovative and healthy China. The pharmaceutical industry is an important part of the national economy, and pharmaceutical manufacturing and innovative R&D are related to the national economy and people’s livelihood. On the one hand, the pharmaceutical industry has invested heavily in basic R&D funds and grown with high early-stage risks and long results transformation cycles. On the other hand, pharmaceutical innovations can produce huge economic and social benefits under the IP protection system. At present, China’s pharmaceutical innovation has entered the global pharmaceutical innovation chain. Chairman Shang hoped that everyone would seize the opportunity with the help of CBIIC platform to strengthen technical exchanges and cooperation, making good use of financial tools and jointly promote the development of pharmaceutical innovation for the construction of the “Healthy China” and “Global Community of Health for All”.

Chairman Shang Fulin Gave a Remark

Li Yan, Chairman-elected of PhIRDA and President of Qilu Pharmaceutical Group chaired the keynote speeches session.

Chair of Keynote Speeches Session: Li Yan, President of Qilu Pharmaceutical Group

Sha Yan, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President & CEO of Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) delivered a speech titled ChiNext Supports the Innovation and Development of Biomedicine. Sha Yan pointed out in her speech that innovation is the combination of technology and capital. Biopharmaceutical industry is an emerging strategic industry, which is technology intensive and innovation driven. The inherent uncertainty of industry development makes it difficult to integrate the biopharmaceutical field with the traditional financial market. However, the characteristics of capital market benefit - risk sharing could be highly matched with it.

From the perspective of the global market, pharmaceutical industry has ushered in a golden period of development driven by both the technological progress and demand growth. In 2018 and 2019, 76 and 54 pharmaceutical companies were listed respectively on exchanges around the world, making it the sub-industry with the largest number of listings and the largest amount of financing outside the financial industry. Since 2014, pharmaceutical-related companies have accounted for the largest share of IPOs in the US market. It can be said that the combination of the capital market and the pharmaceutical industry are naturally complementary.

The Post-COVID-19 era has arrived. It is the necessary to use the power of science and technology to support the leapfrog development of the pharmaceutical industry through the capital market, stimulate the vitality of market players and form a group of high-quality listed pharmaceutical companies.

President Sha Yan Gave a Speech

Due to the travel limitation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Elizabeth Myers, Global Chairman of Investment Banking, Equity Capital Markets at J.P. Morgan delivered a speech virtually. In the past 5 years, the biotech industry has seen an explosion in innovation that has driven up valuation of listed companies across the globe. Since the global outbreak of COVID-19 earlier this year, the value of that innovation has driven major biotech indices to consistently outperform other sectors. Investors have greeted new IPO issuance with great enthusiasm and subsequent equity and convertible issuance remains robust. Despite the economic headwinds of the pandemic, J.P. Morgan remains very bullish about the healthcare sector and our investors agree there is money to be made while helping to heal the world. She pointed out that scientific and technological advancement and government support China's biotech/biopharma companies specifically tailwinds include strong domestic demand for new products. There is no doubt that biotech will remain a key growth engine for China's healthcare industry.

Chairman Elizabeth Myers Delivered a Virtual Speech

Wang Yongjun, President of Beijing Tian Tan Hospital of Capital Medical University, delivered a speech named Bigdata and Omics Driven Healthcare Industry. President Wang Yongjun pointed out in his speech that after the arrival of high-definition medicine, big data and omics-driven medicine had brought new challenges to new drug development and clinical medicine. In terms of industrial structure, the one driven by omics and clinical big data can be roughly divided into five categories, including health big data, medical blockchain, medical artificial intelligence companies, reverse drug development, etc., which are all driven by big data. At present, the National High Performance Computing Center (HPCC) has four types of big data that can be used for drug development and subsequent target discovery, including community cohorts, disease registration, neuroimaging databases and clinical trial databases. Clinical big data and omics are new methods for drug R&D companies to find new drugs and new targets faster, and can effectively help the R&D of innovative drugs. President Wang Yongjun said that all pharmaceutical companies are welcome to use these clinical data at Tian Tan Hospital and HPCC, and jointly contribute to the development of Chinese pharmaceuticals and the entire healthcare industry in China.

President Wang Yongjun Gave a Speech

Zhang Yongxiang, Chairman of Chinese Pharmacological Society delivered a speech titled New Drug Research and Development Trend in China. He introduced in his speech that China launched the National Science and Technology Major Project for Major New Drug Research and Development in 2008. By 2020, the project has implemented for 12 years, focusing on the "five landmark achievements" and making great achievements. Till August in this year, with the support of project, a total of 52 Class I new drugs have been successfully developed, certificated and approved for marketing, including 32 chemical drugs and 20 biological drugs. In 2018 alone, 9 Class I new drugs obtained new drug certificates, and 10 Class I new drugs were approved for marketing in 2019.

Chairman Zhang Yongxiang pointed out that regarding the research of new drug targets, the progress of anti-cancer drugs for specific types of biomarkers and targets regardless of cancer species has attracted great attention. The National Science and Technology Major Project for Major New Drug Research and Development has achieved remarkable results and created a new historical brilliance, bringing China’s new drug R&D capabilities to a new level. The new drug R&D is in a critical period of rapid development and transformation from imitation to innovation. At present, China's new drug innovation has developed in a high speed, having a very broad and encouraging prospect.

Chairman Zhang Yongxiang Gave a Speech

The panel session included panels on Global Trends on Pharmaceutical Innovation R&D and Investment and Pharmaceutical Innovation. The former panel was chaired by PhIRDA Executive President Song Ruilin and participated by Jiang Jiandong, 2017-2018 Annual Chairman of PhIRDA and Director of Institute of Medicine of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Kang Wei, Vice Chair of CAEFI and Managing Director of RDPAC, He Ruyi, CMO of RemeGen, CMO of SDIC and Former Chief Scientist of Center for Drug Evaluation, CFDA and Li Ning, CEO of Shanghai Junshi Biosciences.

The panelists thought that China should have our own characteristics in the research on the global pharmaceutical innovation trend, which means that the development should in line with both the national conditions and the global level. How innovative companies can take a foothold in China and explore the global market? This requires attention not only to current clinical needs and world needs, but also to global development. The future of innovative drug companies is bright, but the road is tortuous. How can this road be unified and coordinated in terms of government policies and personnel training? This is the fundamental element for the survival of innovative drug companies and is also a question must be thought for China's pharmaceutical innovation.

Panel 1: Global Trends on Pharmaceutical Innovation R&D

The panel on Investment and Pharmaceutical Innovation was chaired by Houston Huang, Managing Director and Head of China Global Investment Banking, J.P. Morgan and participated by Jiang Hualiang, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2015-2016 Annual Chairman of PhIRDA and Professor of Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhou Yunshu, Chairman of the Board and General Manager of Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine, Fang Min, Vice-Chairman of PhIRDA Pharmaceutical Innovation Investment Specialty Committee and Managing Director & Head of Healthcare Investment of Warburg Pincus, Christina Bao, Managing Director & Head of Global Issuer Services of HKEX.

The panelists thought that with the catalysis and lubrication of the global capital market, the vitality of pharmaceutical innovation could be sustainably developed, the new drugs R&D has been accelerated in an all-round way, and mankind will be benefit from more advanced technologies. Regarding the future development of China's pharmaceutical industry, the panelists expressed different views according to their respective fields and discussed together through the combination of capital and innovative power and the connection with the world through multiple channels, achieving the goal of to the world.

Panel 2: Investment and Pharmaceutical Innovation

The success of 2020 CBIIC facilitated the cooperation between global capital and China’s pharmaceutical innovation under the COVID-19 pandemic, deepened the global capital and pharmaceutical innovation industries’ understanding on China and global trend of pharmaceutical innovation and financing, made contribution to the full release of the vitality of pharmaceutical innovation and the timely and efficient transformation of innovative achievements and would also have a more positive and important impact on promoting the transformation and upgrading, innovation and development of pharmaceutical industry in China.

The Opening Ceremony of the 2020 CBIIC has received high attention and praise from the domestic and foreign pharmaceutical and investment communities, attracting more than 100 institutions and more than 2,000 participants from domestic and foreign investment, pharmaceutical innovative companies, and research institutes. Nearly one hundred journalists from more than 40 institutions including Springer Nature, Medicine Economic Reporter, MENET and NIJM Frontiers in Medicine, etc. participated in the 2020 CBIIC and reported this event.

Under the great support of all parties, CBIIC is gradually becoming an international, authoritative, diversified communication platform to interpret policies on drug and financing and investment circle, present pharmaceutical innovative achievements at home and abroad, lead new investment trends. As the most influential annual grand conference in Asia-Pacific region, CBIIC will make social capital playing a leading role in the development of pharmaceutical innovation, create a more scientific and attractive investment environment and contribute to China's economic and social development to meet the clinical needs and advance the pursuit of Healthy China.

Plenary Session of 2020 CBIIC Opening Ceremony

2021 CBIIC will be held on September 25-27, 2021. See you in Suzhou again!