Technological innovation needs to stimulate "cluster effects" (Link Commentator: Promoting high-quality development of free trade pilot zones ⑥)
Technological innovation cannot be achieved alone, and it is necessary to stimulate the "cluster effect" to solve research and development difficulties. Strengthening collaborative innovation, strengthening cluster tackling, and working together to create a technological innovation "ecosystem" that solves problems and shares development are the key to continuously enhancing the overall competitiveness and development "value" of industrial clusters
Dialogue person:
Zou Xiang, commentator of this newspaper
Zuo Zhongfu, commentator of Xinhua Daily
Zou Xiang: The biopharmaceutical industry is a strategic emerging industry that is related to national economy, people's livelihood, and national security. It is also an advantageous industry in the Jiangsu Free Trade Zone. Last year, the scale of the biopharmaceutical industry in Jiangsu Province accounted for 13.9% of the national total, with 206 newly approved drugs and 380 Class III medical devices, both ranking among the top in the country. Especially in the biopharmaceutical industrial park in Suzhou area, more than 30 new drugs have been approved for market launch, 562 clinical approvals for Class I new drugs have been obtained, and more than 2300 biopharmaceutical enterprises have been gathered with an annual output value exceeding 130 billion yuan... Such achievements have been highly praised by domestic peers who come to inspect. How did the Jiangsu Pilot Free Trade Zone achieve such results on this new track?
Zuo Zhongfu: The key lies in innovation. The growth characteristics of biopharmaceutical enterprises determine that the service measures and support policies of the free trade pilot zone must be professional, go beyond traditional "nanny style services", and provide "expert style services" and "partner style services" that understand the difficulties of enterprise development.
Give two innovative cases in the Suzhou area. One is about financial innovation. In May of this year, Leitekang Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. pledged a biopharmaceutical pipeline with independent intellectual property rights to a bank and obtained a loan credit of 10 million yuan. This financial service in the Suzhou area converts data intellectual property rights into intangible asset financing, solving the financing difficulties of many biopharmaceutical startups. The second is about innovation in approval. Aidi Weixin Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. urgently needs a foreign electric pulse device and supporting consumables when developing vaccines, but this device has not yet been registered in China. According to the "Yanyida" method established in the Suzhou area, the enterprise quickly completed the procedures and imported products, ensuring the smooth development of research and development projects. Focusing on demand through experimentation and closely following the footsteps of enterprises through innovation, targeted institutional innovation can truly solve the practical problems faced by enterprises and break through the bottlenecks in technological innovation.
Zou Xiang: In the pharmaceutical industry, developing a new type of drug often faces three "10's": 10 years of research and development time, 1 billion yuan of research and development investment, and a 10% probability of success. Before a drug arrives at a patient and is used to treat a disease, it needs to go through multiple "checkpoints" such as molecular discovery, process development, production scaling up, animal testing for safety evaluation, clinical trials, and market application. The development of strategic emerging industries such as the biopharmaceutical industry requires long-term policy support, and it is important to create a good innovation atmosphere that values success and is more tolerant of failure.
Zuo Zhongfu: Inclusion for ten years and encouragement for achieving remarkable results are important experiences for the development of the biopharmaceutical industry in Jiangsu Pilot Free Trade Zone. Drug development often requires a ten-year sharpening of the sword, and start-up R&D companies have a longer cycle to recover costs and achieve profitability. Faced with the industry characteristics of long R&D cycles, high sustained investment, and difficulty in achieving short-term results, it is particularly important to maintain strategic composure without urging production or maturation. A few years before the establishment of the Jiangsu Pilot Free Trade Zone, relevant industrial parks supported the biopharmaceutical industry as an important pillar industry. After the establishment of the pilot free trade zone, policy stability and continuity were further maintained. Thanks to more than 10 years of continuous policy support, the comprehensive competitiveness of the biopharmaceutical industry in Suzhou Industrial Park ranks among the top among more than 200 parks in the country.
Zou Xiang: The only way to innovate is to win people. Biomedical technology has the characteristics of high knowledge, technology, and capital intensity. Seizing the opportunity of leapfrog development of the bioeconomy, it is necessary to increase investment in technology, funds, talents, and other factors, especially to cultivate and attract a group of top-notch biopharmaceutical talents, enhance original innovation capabilities, and create a highland for biopharmaceutical innovation. Almost every place places great importance on talent introduction. What is the uniqueness of Jiangsu Pilot Free Trade Zone in attracting and retaining talents?
Zuo Zhongfu: Every towering tree starts from the seeds taking root, sprouting, and growing from small saplings. It takes meticulous care of the "saplings" and when they grow into "towering trees," their sense of belonging becomes stronger. Li Jiwen, Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Innovation Committee of Suzhou Industrial Park, still remembers that more than 10 years ago, when the founder of Xinda Biotechnology came to participate in the defense meeting of the Suzhou Science and Technology Leading Talent Entrepreneurship Project with a backpack, there was no team, funds, equipment, or business plan, only creative ideas for key technologies and developing new drugs. In order to retain talent, Li Jiwen and her team helped fill out the application form and fully served the project settlement. Nowadays, Xinda Biotechnology has approved the launch of 8 new drugs, becoming the company with the most antibody drugs on the market in China. The seeds of that year have blossomed and borne fruit. From the introduction of a diversified evaluation and recommendation mechanism for high-level talents in the Nanjing area, to the issuance of policies such as the "Several Opinions on Accelerating the Gathering of High end and Urgent Talents" in the Suzhou area, and then to the creation of a one-stop service platform for high-level talents in the Lianyungang area to solve talent concerns, innovate talent recruitment, training, and service methods, sincerely value and love talents, which can help more talent "seeds" to take root and bear fruit in the Jiangsu Pilot Free Trade Zone.
Zou Xiang: Technological innovation cannot be achieved alone. It is necessary to stimulate the "cluster effect" to solve research and development difficulties. To continuously enhance the overall competitiveness and development value of industrial clusters, we need to strengthen collaborative innovation, strengthen cluster tackling, and work together to create a technological innovation "ecosystem" that solves problems and shares development.
Zuo Zhongfu: Recently, the Jiangsu Biopharmaceutical Cluster Party Building Alliance was established. In response to the shortcomings and weaknesses in key technologies, materials, equipment components, and other key industrial chains such as biopharmaceuticals, chemical drugs, traditional Chinese medicine, and medical devices, the alliance integrates policies and resources from all aspects through party building to promote cooperation and collaborative innovation in various links of the cluster and industrial chain, including politics, industry, academia, research and application, as well as upstream, midstream, and downstream. Not only in the biopharmaceutical industry, but also in cultivating strategic emerging industries, efforts need to be made to promote deep integration of innovation chains, industrial chains, funding chains, and talent chains. Nowadays, with the continuous increase of innovation investment, the industrial competitiveness of strategic emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, quantum information, and nano new materials in the Jiangsu Free Trade Zone is also constantly enhancing. The road is walked out. The Jiangsu Pilot Free Trade Zone will continuously stimulate the advantages of industrial clusters, form a "network effect" of "four chains" integration, and enhance the competitiveness and innovation efficiency of enterprises by gathering points to form a surface and connecting lines to form a network.
