Reference News Network August 19 report: The U.S. "New York Times" website published an article on August 17, titled "China's Biotechnology Industry Is Cheaper and Faster", by Jacob Dreher. The article is translated as follows:

In Wuxi, a city not far from Shanghai, China is building its future pharmaceutical industry. Here are factories and laboratories where global pharmaceutical companies can develop and produce drugs faster and more cheaply than elsewhere.

Given the context of the Trump administration imposing tariffs on China, I had thought that such manufacturing centers would be in a panic. However, when I came to Wuxi this April, local government officials emphasized that Wuxi's research centers were thriving. They proudly introduced the star laboratories and enterprises that were continuing to develop well, and the fact that the Chinese biotechnology stock index has risen significantly since the beginning of the year seems to support their claims. The researchers in this city seem ready to face the busy business of the coming decades.

To challenge America's dominance in biotechnology, China does not necessarily have to beat it on America's track. The American biotechnology industry is known for developing cutting-edge therapies, while China's innovation focuses mainly on accelerating production and cutting costs, with the goal of achieving cost reduction in the development, testing, and production of drugs and medical products.

Therefore, China's biotechnology industry can offer drugs and other medical products to customers at much lower prices, including low-cost generic drugs. These may not be cures that change the world, but they are treatment options that millions of patients need daily. As China's influence grows, the world will soon see a new leader in biotechnology.

WuXi AppTec is a company that exemplifies China's biotechnology development model. It provides integrated services for drug development, optimizing the entire process from early drug discovery, recruitment of young scientists, to drug production. Its clients include both Chinese and Western pharmaceutical companies. It is estimated that WuXi AppTec has been involved in the development of about a quarter of the medicines used in the United States, including blockbuster cancer drugs.

Although the Chinese government has made efforts to negotiate pricing with domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies, Chinese consumers benefit from low drug prices, which ultimately results from the fact that Chinese biotechnology companies test and produce drugs much faster than their American counterparts. So far, the major American biotechnology giants do not seem to mind this competition, as they also benefit from collaborations with companies like WuXi AppTec, allowing them to invest more funds into breakthrough research.

This situation may change soon. With positive government support, an expanding professional talent pool, a large patient population, an optimized healthcare system, and cooperation with foreign companies (including American companies), China may soon catch up with the United States in the field of biotechnology.

While many people view China's rise in the biotechnology field as a threat, I am skeptical. Instead, it may be more reasonable to consider China as part of the solution. Increasing access to new medicines produced in China may provide Americans with more choices to address a range of diseases, including diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, through cheaper drugs and treatment options.

Although China still faces challenges in the forefront of new drug research, its progress over the past decade or so has been remarkable. Over the past 20 years, China has invested heavily in biotechnology research, improved regulatory systems, and established a model for training young scientists.

As Secretary of State Rubio wrote in a report from his office in 2024 while he was a senator, "China has the ability to conduct high-value research in multiple areas, covering both the production areas in which China excels and the theoretical areas in which the United States once led."

The rise of this field also provides China with a very strong reserve of life science talents. Although China's biotechnology industry may focus on producing low-cost medicines, these talents will lay the foundation for the country's innovative breakthroughs. For example, Liking Life Sciences, a Chinese company, is conducting clinical trials on a tumor vaccine developed using messenger RNA (mRNA) editing technology. This vaccine aims to activate the patient's own immune system to specifically identify and eliminate tumor cells. It has recently been made available to selected patients in some areas of Hainan Province.

It is understood that Liking Life Sciences plans to offer this vaccine at a price far lower than similar products from Western pharmaceutical companies. However, an investor from the company said that due to the hostility of the United States towards Chinese companies and their products, it is unlikely that Americans will be able to access this medicine.

China's success is often seen as a failure for the United States, but that is not the case. The United States should learn from China's successful experience in optimizing drug development to provide Americans with more affordable and accessible healthcare.

Translation/Julie Zhu

Staff working in a laboratory at the Tianjin base of a life sciences company (Xinhua News Agency)

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7540121065020768803/

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