The development momentum of biotechnology in our country is unstoppable

　　With the rapid development of science and technology, the bioengineering and new drug markets have become exceptionally active, especially in recent years as China's pharmaceutical market gradually integrates with the global market. The biopharmaceutical industry has rapidly risen, and under stock market speculation, the manufacturing industry dominated by chemical drugs is quickly moving towards bioengineering technology products. In today's slow progress of chemical innovative drugs, the globalization characteristics of bioengineering drugs have become increasingly prominent and have attracted more attention.

 

　　Gene products are emerging like mushrooms after rain

　　Biotechnological drugs refer to protein, antibody, or nucleic acid drugs developed using DNA recombinant technology, monoclonal antibody technology, or other new biological technologies. This is one of the most active, fastest-growing, and most fruitful fields in modern science. These drugs have been widely used in the treatment of many difficult diseases, and the biotechnological drug market has also rapidly developed like mushrooms after rain. 　

　　Research achievements in recombinant proteins and recombinant polypeptide drugs, recombinant DNA drugs, as well as molecular cloning, gene recombination technology, and microecological preparation drugs have gradually entered commercialization. Among them, many recombinant protein and recombinant polypeptide drugs have been developed and marketed, mainly cytokine drugs: interleukins, interferons, tumor necrosis factors, epidermal growth factors; recombinant thrombolytic drugs: recombinant streptokinase, recombinant urokinase, humanized monoclonal antibody preparations; as well as recombinant vaccines and anti-cytokine therapeutic drugs. Recombinant DNA drugs under development include oligonucleotide drugs, antisense nucleotides, gene drugs, and cell therapy preparation vaccines. By early 2004, there were more than 2,200 biotechnological drugs under development worldwide, with the United States having approved more than 170 biotechnological drugs. These new products are triggering changes in the market.

　　According to the report presented by IMS Health at the DCAT conference held in New York in March 2004, in recent years, global biopharmaceutical sales have grown at an average annual rate of 30%. In 2003, the global biopharmaceutical market value reached 37 billion USD. Among "blockbuster" drugs, the proportion of biotechnological drugs will increasingly grow. Biotechnological products in clinical research account for one-quarter of all R&D drugs and have become a growth point driving global pharmaceutical market profits.

　　

　　Rapid growth of the bioindustry 　　

　　Biotechnological drugs are a key project in China's development. Since the 1980s, significant progress has been made, evolving from biological products, biochemical drugs, and microbial drugs to bioengineering technology drugs. Many biopharmaceutical companies and research institutes have made achievements by fully utilizing this most efficient lead compound based on natural biochemical drugs. The successful development of the representative product recombinant human interferon α1b marked substantial progress in DNA recombinant technology. With the cooperation between biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry and continuous integration of multiple resources, currently, there are more than 200 biopharmaceutical companies in China, with about one-third having gene engineering drug product projects.       

　　China's gene technology R&D started relatively late. Bioengineering pharmaceuticals are an emerging industry with a significant gap compared to developed countries, mainly reflected in smaller scale, fewer varieties, and insufficient innovation capability, which is an indisputable fact. However, product R&D has taken a shortcut and started relatively quickly. Specifically, since the launch of China's first bioengineering drug β-interferon in 1989 until 2003, China has marketed 21 gene engineering drugs including recombinant human interferon, erythropoietin, interleukin-2, human growth hormone, urokinase, recombinant modified human tumor necrosis factor, nerve growth factor, human insulin, among which nearly one-third are national innovative drugs. More than 10 varieties are in clinical research. Although many projects are still in the research stage, the rapid development of bioengineering technology has become a shining highlight in the pharmaceutical market and will undoubtedly become the fastest-growing part of the pharmaceutical industry.

　　

　　Driven by the market 　　

　　In recent years, with the impact of ecological environment, increased life stress, and aging, the incidence of malignant tumors has shown a gradual upward trend. The spread of immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B and C viruses has jointly driven the gene technology drug market, which is showing rapid development.          

　　However, from another perspective, the development of China's biopharmaceutical industry has not been smooth. After a period of rapid growth in the mid to late 1990s, amid the global market fluctuations and the subdued operation of the domestic stock market, the biopharmaceutical industry also experienced a downturn. In 2002, listed companies with biopharmaceuticals as their main business showed poor performance and slowed development due to factors related to their leading products.          

　　The market development also has its special trajectory, which is not subject to people's will. Due to the sudden impact of the SARS virus, biological drugs such as interferon and thymosin became the best formulations to control SARS, which again attracted widespread attention to the biopharmaceutical sector and promoted the development of the biopharmaceutical market and the successful listing of small and medium-sized high-tech enterprises such as Beijing SL Pharmaceutical. Looking ahead, the biopharmaceutical industry will take this as an opportunity to drive breakthroughs in technological barriers through new product development, explore new biopharmaceutical markets, and enable China's bioengineering and pharmaceutical industries to jointly reach a higher development platform.          

　　In recent years, China's pharmaceutical industry has shown sustained rapid growth. In 2003, the national pharmaceutical industrial product sales revenue reached 296.2 billion yuan, an increase of 19% over the previous year, with profits of 27.4 billion yuan, an increase of 25.8%. Pharmaceutical industry mergers and acquisitions are in full swing: the most active capital groups such as Huayuan, Fosun, Taiji, TaTai, Dongsheng, Yuanda, Huali, and China Resources have emerged as eight major pharmaceutical systems. The "Pharmaceutical Valley" boom has attracted huge investments: currently, there are about 100 various pharmaceutical industrial parks nationwide, and more than 50 biopharmaceutical parks have been approved by relevant national departments or local governments.          

　　From the perspective of Beijing's bioengineering and pharmaceutical industry, the current value of output in 2003 reached 15 billion yuan, with total profits accounting for 14.57%. Structurally, the ratio of chemical pharmaceuticals, bioengineering, and natural drugs is 50:17:33, with the total output value of bioengineering drugs at 1.67 billion yuan. Next, the government will encourage key industrialization research in bioinformatics technology, biochip technology, gene therapy technology, cell therapy technology, and encourage the development of products such as bio-diagnostic chips, cell immunotherapy drugs, monoclonal antibody diagnostic reagents, gene engineering drugs, and vaccines.         

　　Looking back at the development history of biotechnological drugs, after more than 30 years of wandering, the situation has begun to take shape. In the drug market, biotechnological drugs have become an important category, mainly used for the treatment of cancer, human immunodeficiency virus diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, anemia, autoimmune diseases, genetic defect diseases, and many hereditary diseases. The rapid development of bioengineering technology has promoted the research progress of gene recombinant DNA technology, molecular cloning technology, and cell fusion technology.          

　　The bio-genetic engineering industry faces the situation of economic globalization, and there are always good opportunities for development at any time. In the process of bio-genetic engineering research, scale-up production, and market development in China, there are significant gaps compared to developed countries in management systems, funding, technology, and talent. At the same time, patent protection and patent research are also weak, which are well-known critical "soft spots." Only by accelerating industrial structural adjustment, improving quality and efficiency, and reasonably allocating limited resources to form a scientific and rational research, development, and production pattern can the development of the new bio-industry be promoted.