By Lin Qiuxiong, Personnel Bureau of General Office, DRC; Qiu Yue, China Development Research Foundation & Chen Junjun, China Economic Times

Research Report, No.301, 2021 (Total 6366) 2021-10-18

Abstract: Pharmaceutical innovation is a key and core technology concerning people’s livelihood and an important factor to propel innovation-driven development. China has witnessed great improvements in this field since 2015 such as refined regulatory environment, vigorous scientific research innovation, abundant social capital influx, diversified innovation modes, the cultivation of talented personnel and the large number of overseas returnees, all of which have made it possible for China’s pharmaceutical innovation to reach a new high. We have gradually narrowed the gap with advanced countries like the U.S. in terms of certain sectors and some specific technological categories in the ecosystem, and our pharmaceutical innovation may keep pace with and even outpace them. On the premises of meeting people’s needs and realizing clinical values, we need to strive to address relevant issues including insufficient innovation-oriented research in some basic areas, capital investment dislocation and unclear payment routings. It is expected that China’s pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem construction will, through continuous refinement, usher in a new round of development climax in the next 5 to 10 years.

Keywords: pharmaceutical innovation, ecosystem, innovation mode, innovation capital