Shenzhen Biomedicine Innovations Industrial Park in Pingshan District now houses nearly 100 biomedicine companies — 27 of which national high-tech firms — which generated a combined revenue of over 9 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) last year, according to Shenzhen Special Zone Daily.
The park, located in Pingshan High-tech Zone, is an example of Shenzhen's booming technological innovation. Many key research innovation platforms have decided to move into the park, such as the biomedicine innovation center and the Sanofi Pasteur China vaccine innovation center.
More than 60 percent of executives of enterprises in the park hold a Ph.D. degree.
Shenzhen HwaGen Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (HwaGen Pharma) is a representative of the park's private industry service platforms. The company was founded in 2016 by Dr. Ye Weiping, a Ph.D. graduate in chemistry from the National University of Singapore.
Ye told a reporter that their research team, consisting of 17 Ph.D. holders and 40 graduates with a master's degree, is committed to studying and developing new cancer-fighting drugs, antiviral agents and drugs against respiratory diseases.
Ye also spoke highly of Pingshan. "When we chose a site for our firm in 2016, we found Pingshan has advantages in the facilities available for biomedical development. The Pingshan government offered supporting policies to help us. We made the right choice," Ye said.
Shenzhen Biomedicine Innovations Industrial Park is dedicated to setting up an innovative ecological chain by integrating basic research, technological breakthrough, industrialization of research outcome, technological finance and talents.
However, the park is unable to satisfy the need of the city's fast-growing biomedicine industry. Construction for the second phase of the Pingshan Biomedical Industry Accelerator, adjacent to Shenzhen Biomedicine Innovations Industrial Park, has started recently. The second phase is expected to create nearly 500,000 square meters of industrial space upon completion.
Shenzhen took third place among Chinese cities in the number of invention publications and patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty in the biomedical field, according to statistics on inventions of Shenzhen's seven strategic emerging industries.