Decisive Victory at FIC: Guangzhou on the Innovative Drug "Playing Field"

Ask AI · How can Guangzhou’s innovative drugs shift from following to leading?

Southern Finance Reporter Zhang Yixin, Guangzhou Report

Just after the Chinese New Year in 2026, the country’s innovative drug industry has already seen a strong start. As of February 25, there have been 44 licensing transactions for Chinese innovative drugs this year, with an initial payment of approximately $3.123 billion and a total deal value of $53.276 billion. The total transaction volume has surpassed one-third of 2025’s total. Breakthrough progress in overseas markets reflects China’s shift from “following” to “running alongside” and even “leading” in innovative drugs.

In March this year, the government work report explicitly upgraded biomedicine to an emerging pillar industry, meaning biomedicine is no longer just a key sector to cultivate but a core force supporting the national economy.

Wang Guilin, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Vice Chairman of Guangzhou CPPCC, told Southern Finance during the annual two sessions that biomedicine is a critical track for future success. Guangzhou has the strongest foundation and the greatest potential to lead nationwide in this field.

Standing at the forefront of China’s accelerating innovative drug cluster, Guangzhou is at a crucial turning point for industrial upgrading. Recently, Southern Finance reporters visited Guangzhou International Biological Island, Nansha Life and Health Valley, Guangzhou Medical Device Testing Center, and other sites. From current practical applications in Guangzhou biomedicine, as the core area of the Pearl River Delta biomedicine, Guangzhou has developed a distinctive path focused on tackling original innovative drugs, solidifying industrial transformation, and leveraging precise policies and institutional innovation to pave the way, with a full-chain layout to meet industry victory.

Guangzhou FIC Emerges

According to public reports, China’s pharmaceutical industry is now the second largest globally, with about 30% of the research pipeline being innovative drugs. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, China has approved 204 innovative drugs and 265 innovative medical devices.

Industry experts generally believe that China’s innovative drug sector is entering its third wave. Professor Lu Bai from Tsinghua University School of Pharmacy previously pointed out that China’s biomedicine industry 1.0 was about generics, 2.0 was rapid follow-up, and 3.0 is characterized by original innovative drugs with global independent intellectual property rights, namely FIC (First-in-Class) drugs.

Today, Chinese companies have produced FIC or BIC (Best-in-Class) drugs with globally competitive data in frontier fields such as bispecific antibodies, ADCs (antibody-drug conjugates), small nucleic acids, and CGT (cell and gene therapy). The development of these drugs will enhance China’s international competitiveness and bargaining power in innovative pharmaceuticals.

Guangzhou’s FIC drugs are also gaining prominence. Jiang Xiaoli, General Manager of LinNan Gene Technology (Guangdong), told Southern Finance that the company focuses on FIC and BIC gene therapy drugs. They have collaborated with Nansha Branch of Guangzhou First People’s Hospital on gene therapy for transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia, treating over 50 patients with clinical data better than overseas counterparts.

“Bluebird Bio in the U.S. charges $2.8 million for the same therapy, while our price is just a few tenths of that,” Jiang said. The Nansha gene therapy project for thalassemia has attracted international attention, with many doctors and patients from multiple countries visiting and consulting.

By 2025, Guangzhou had approved four Class 1 innovative drugs, a 100% increase year-on-year, accounting for half of the province’s total. Among them, “Onraldevir,” developed jointly by Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou Respiratory Health Institute, and Zhongsheng Ruichuang, is the world’s first PB2-targeted anti-influenza drug. Wang Huiseng, Assistant Director of Guangzhou National Laboratory, told Southern Finance, “This is the only flu treatment targeting PB2 globally. It has shown almost no resistance through 15 generations of cell experiments, with excellent efficacy.”

Behind this achievement is Guangzhou’s increased investment in pharmaceutical R&D—by 2025, the city’s pharmaceutical manufacturing R&D expenditure will reach 3.847 billion yuan, with an investment intensity of 7.39%, up 0.98 percentage points year-on-year, leading in the industry.

Accelerating Industrialization

Biomedicine in China has formed four major industrial clusters: Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Chengdu-Chongqing, each with distinct features.

Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei is considered the birthplace of original innovation. Lin Xin, Vice Minister of Science and Technology, said at a State Council press conference that in 2024, Beijing’s basic research talent density and investment intensity ranked first nationwide, with clinical trial projects accounting for 40% of the country’s total, representing nearly 40% of annual life sciences research achievements.

The Yangtze River Delta is market-oriented with active capital. Public reports show that Shanghai’s biomedicine industry’s financing reached 18.125 billion yuan in 2025, accounting for 25% of the national total, ranking first among provinces and cities.

Ruo Zhiya, Research Manager at the Southern Medical Economics Research Institute of the National Medical Products Administration, said that in 2024, Guangdong’s medical device industry reached 287.104 billion yuan, maintaining the top position nationwide for years, with Shenzhen and Guangzhou forming a “dual-core drive” pattern. This has become a distinctive feature of the region.

Wang Guilin emphasized that promoting deep integration of technological and industrial innovation is key, and a good path involves “technological productization and industrialization,” creating an effective cycle between technology and industry.

During visits to Guangzhou Medical Device Testing Center and Zhujiang Medical Simulation Industry Park, the focus was on key links in the medical device industry chain and technological innovation for medical devices.

At Guangzhou Medical Device Testing Center, the reporter toured the 10-meter and 3-meter electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), electrical safety, performance, software validation, and environmental reliability testing chambers, supporting testing for AI medical software, surgical robots, high-end imaging equipment, and more.

He Guoshan, Deputy Director of Guangzhou Quality Inspection and Research Institute and Guangzhou Medical Device Testing Center, explained that the center currently offers free testing for Guangzhou medical device companies, having processed 746 batches of medical device registration tests, benefiting 146 local companies. This measure effectively reduces burdens and improves efficiency, helping products move smoothly from samples to mass production.

Zhujiang Medical Simulation Industry Park focuses on technological application scenarios, creating a research and application base for medical simulation materials.

The reporter saw simulation materials such as ex vivo animal organs and gallbladder removal models. The lung models mimic real human breathing, serving training and education. Professor Tian Jing, Director of the Clinical Skills Center at Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University, explained how the park uses simulation materials to support enterprise implementation: “The German company ApoQLar specializes in immersive surgical navigation but cannot test on real humans. We have 3D printing equipment and ex vivo animal organs for technical implementation and training.” Through innovation in simulation materials, the park attracts companies to apply these technologies in medical simulation, aiming to form a cluster of simulated medicine industries.

System Breakthroughs

The vigorous development of China’s innovative drugs relies on top-down policy coordination.

In June 2025, the National Healthcare Security Administration and the National Health Commission issued “Several Measures to Support High-Quality Development of Innovative Drugs,” proposing 16 measures covering R&D support, medical insurance access, clinical application, multi-channel payment, and global development. That same year, cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Chengdu introduced supporting policies for biomedicine, such as Shanghai’s goal to build a world-class biomedicine industrial park and become a global launch site for innovative drugs and devices. Hainan provided full-process funding rewards for innovative drugs and devices, up to 10 million yuan.

Guangzhou closely follows national strategies, elevating the biomedicine industry to an unprecedented strategic level. In 2026, the Guangzhou government work report for the first time listed biomedicine alongside artificial intelligence and marine economy as “decisive tracks” for economic development.

Unlike other regions, Guangzhou has precisely targeted six major tracks: IVD, traditional Chinese medicine, medical institution formulations, nuclear medicine, cell and gene therapy, and brain-computer interfaces, aiming for “breakthroughs at single points and flowering at multiple points.” It is also accelerating the implementation of policies such as the IVD special policy package, a three-year nuclear medicine action plan, and legislation for cell and gene therapy.

The reporter learned that the Huangpu New Drug Application Service Center exemplifies a “very thoughtful” service model. Its advantage lies in connecting national, provincial, municipal, and district levels, with monthly consultations from National Medical Products Administration experts on Guangzhou biomedicine and medical devices. In 2025, the center helped four Class 1 innovative drugs—Rucaparib injection by Guangzhou Hengrui, Onraldevir by Zhongsheng Ruichuang, Yangxue Qufeng Pain Relief Granules by Fangsheng Jianmeng, and Ipratropium Bromide Injection by Beite—successfully obtain approval.

Nansha’s policy breakthroughs are also highly significant. It is the only region in the country outside Hainan Boao where fully unlisted products can be used in clinical applications in public hospitals. This has enabled companies like LinNan Gene to pioneer in cell and gene therapy fields.