Bayer opens life sciences incubator in Shanghai

"China is one of the leaders in cell and gene therapy, with the largest number of clinical trials going on. This is why we launched Bayer Co. Lab in China. We hope to transform more local solutions in China to the world," he said.

Wang Hongwei, a professor at the school of life sciences and vice-president of Tsinghua University, said that in terms of innovative drug development, wider and deeper collaborations are increasingly seen between Chinese startups and biopharmaceutical MNCs. The former group brings out new possible clinical-stage discoveries, while the latter focuses more on offering support in finance, techniques, as well as talent in the subsequent stages.

"This kind of collaboration has already been formed as an innovative ecosystem in China," he said.

This year, Bayer and RTW Investments announced equity investments of $35 million and $127 million, respectively, in CORXEL, a Shanghai-based biopharmaceutical company. The three parties joined forces to advance the development of CORXEL's pipeline in the fields of cardiovascular diseases and ophthalmology.

On Jan 2, Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche reached an agreement with Suzhou, Jiangsu province-based biopharmaceutical company MediLink Therapeutics, focusing on the cooperative R&D of an innovative product targeting solid tumors.

In October, British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca reached an agreement on clinical research with Jiangsu province-based biopharmaceutical company Ascentage Pharma. The clinical research focuses on lymphatic diseases.

"We look forward to more local partnerships in China, to quickly identify and drive early-stage innovations, so that more ideas can be put into practice in China," Eckhardt said.

In this year's Government Work Report, China highlighted for the first time the acceleration of innovative drug development, underscoring the significance of this industry.

In July, the State Council issued a plan to support innovative drug development, while Shanghai introduced measures to support full-chain innovation development in the biopharmaceutical industry, both of which provide robust backing for pharmaceutical innovation.