AsianScientist (May 26, 2016) – China is the world’s leading region for pharmaceutical innovation, according to a Thomson Reuters report.
2015 was the year of innovative firsts worldwide, says the 2016 State of Innovation Report: Disruptive, Game-Changing Innovation. And what a year it was: a two-person international team of astronauts went on the longest human space mission in hisory; self-driving cars began testing on public roads; the first biosimilar drug was approved; and the Internet of Things went mainstream.
It was also the ‘Year of Collabovation,’ a term that means bringing inventions to life through “the elegant convergence of collaboration, innovation, cultivation, cross-pollination and calibration.”
“Coming up with a novel idea can be a feat in itself, but actually bringing one to market is an entirely different game,” noted Mr. Vincent J. Caraher, president of Thomson Reuters IP & Science, in the report.
The report analyzes the number of patent filings and the impact of scientific papers published in each of 12 technology-based industries on a country-by-country basis. Pharmaceuticals, as a whole, experienced four percent year-over-year growth in 2015—nothing to shout about.
Yet, in China, the industry is positively flourishing: in 2014, it was worth US$105 billion, and this figure is set to increase dramatically to US$200 billion by 2020.
Half of the top ten global innovators in pharmaceuticals in 2015 are from China—and they are all academic institutions. The University of Jiangnan came in second with 320 inventions, only losing out to pharmaceutical and diagnostics giant Roche’s 351.
And in terms of scientific research in this field, China is on par with the big boys. Based on the number of papers published, the top ten most influential scientific research institutions in pharmaceuticals from 2005–2015 are entirely made up of European, North American and Chinese institutes. What is more, China’s Tianjin University landed the number one spot with 325 published papers.
Besides a strong emphasis on both innovation and scientific research, China’s success here is further bolstered by strategic international partnerships, expansions, investments and acquisitions between firms big and small; and of course, robust government support. Economic reforms in the late 70’s helped lay the foundations for the growth seen through the 90’s til today. More recently, between 2011 and 2015, the state invested a total of US$1.1 billion in new drug development in a bid to further develop domestic life sciences and pharmaceutical industries.
“Globally, China is the world’s leading region for pharmaceutical innovation … the collabovation between the public and private sectors is also clear in this industry, as all of China’s representatives are from academia,” wrote the Reuters report authors.
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Source: Asian Scientist Magazine; Photo: Shutterstock.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.
