Asia's pharmaceutical innovation ability is almost equal to Europe

When it comes to the development, protection, and commercialization of new technologies, the United States is the world's best leader. However, judging from the recent number of global patents, the United States has been subjected to fierce international competition and China and several Asian countries will become emerging innovations.

According to the European Patent Office, in 2010, the number of patent applications in the United States was 60,588; the number of patent applications in the 27 countries of the European Union reached 82,828, which exceeded the United States and accounted for nearly 90% of the number of European patents consisting of 38 countries. . The number of patent applications in the European Union has risen by 5% over 2009, the Asia-Pacific region has increased by 6%, and the United States has increased by 12%.

In 2010, the number of patent applications in China reached 12,698, an increase of 54% over 2009, which is twice the number in 2008. South Korea followed, reaching 12,342, an increase of 21% over 2009. The number of Japanese patent applications has also increased by 10% to 41,917, ranking second in the world in all countries.

In addition to the growing strength of the emerging Asian countries, drug development in the field of biotechnology has also grown.

Chinese biotechnology development

For biotech companies in emerging Asian countries, the desire for innovation goes beyond what they used to be. Innovation is the driving force for the development of drugs from R&D to production and is the main driving force for improving R&D and production.

In the past 10 years, China has become the main engine for drug manufacturing. China has a huge population base. The pharmaceutical market has great potential for growth, and the degree of attention to innovation is getting higher and higher. Chinese pharmaceutical companies are very interested in the research and development of innovative drugs, and many preclinical CRO companies are also actively involved.

In April of this year, Genor Biopharmaceuticals announced the establishment of a cGMP manufacturing facility at Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Shanghai, laying the foundation for the production of monoclonal antibodies and protein drugs. Genor Biopharm will also establish new drug development and quality control centers. Genor Biopharmaceuticals stated externally: "With the completion of the international standard manufacturing workshop, the company will provide domestic and foreign customers with high quality and low cost CRO/CMO services from gene expression to clinical samples."

Chinese biotech companies are not inferior to innovation: Shanghai Saikin Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Epitomics are outstanding representatives. The new drug “Strongk” developed by Shanghai Saijin Biological was approved on the market on May 10. The generic name of this drug is the recombinant human type II tumor necrosis factor receptor-antibody fusion protein for injection for the treatment of straight spondylitis. Great market potential. Shanghai Saijin Pharmaceutical Company is currently preparing to accept SFDA's GMP certification inspection. Yipakang announced on May 26 that it would use proprietary RabMAb (rabbit monoclonal antibody) technology to manufacture antibodies for Bayer's drug target identification and validation. Yipakang is headquartered in Burigan City, California, and operates a wholly-owned subsidiary in Hangzhou, China.

Pfizer also has an R&D center in Shanghai to transfer the resources of the Groton R&D base in Connecticut to Shanghai, China.

Rapid innovation in Asia

Another fast-growing Asian country with innovative drug development is South Korea. For a long time, the percentage of South Korea’s investment in R&D is comparable to that of developed countries, and South Korea is now starting to make a profit from its investment. For example, South Korea Celltrion plans to launch biosimilars for breast cancer and rheumatoid arthritis on the global market this year after decades of research and development. South Korea's LG Life Science won an exclusive license for the production, development and commercialization of influenza vaccine developed by Novavax's recombinant virus-like particle technology in South Korea at the beginning of the year. LG Life Sciences will provide funding for the clinical development and licensing of influenza virus particle vaccines in Korea, and establish a corresponding production workshop.

Among the emerging Asian countries, companies that conduct stem cell research are at the forefront. European and American companies are still in dispute because of whether government funds can support stem cell research, and it is difficult to obtain capital investment in the short term.

China, Japan and South Korea and other countries and regions that are at the forefront of biotechnology, such as Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, are becoming emerging forces in biotechnology innovation.

Innovation barriers

However, a major challenge for innovation in China and other Asian countries is patent infringement. The Chinese government pays close attention to this issue, which will help Chinese researchers pay attention to the quantity and quality of patent applications.

Another challenge facing emerging countries is still the introduction of high-tech talent. China is becoming more and more attractive to the return of overseas students.

On the contrary, Japan’s main challenge is the stagnation of the economy and the recent economic and economic re-bashing of the earthquake and tsunami. Japanese pharmaceutical companies have started to move overseas, making acquisitions globally, or strengthening their ability to innovate through cooperation with domestic small companies. For example, Astellas bought US OSI Pharmaceutical for US$3.5 billion last year. Takeda purchased Nycomed in Switzerland for 9.6 billion euros (about 13.7 billion U.S. dollars). Takeda Pharmaceutical acquired Millennium Pharmaceuticals for US$8.8 billion three years ago. .

In the past five years, China and other Asian emerging countries have grown into new forces in biotechnology. While the number of biopharmaceutical companies in Asia has grown significantly, the quality of drug development needs to be improved, so that it can gain a place in the international market competition with European and American biopharmaceutical companies.