The 5th AstraZeneca China Ecosystem Annual Meeting, themed on "Collaboration for the Future," was held in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, on Friday, drawing industry leaders, high-growth companies, technology experts and investors to explore the trends of healthcare innovation and stimulate the development of biopharmaceutical and healthcare ecosystem.

The event covers topics on such industry frontier hotspots as "Healthy China 2030" and the optimization of chronic disease control strategies, the construction of molecular pathology standardization center system, latest trend in metabolism disease area, innovative transformation of new drug R&D, construction of respiratory discipline in the COVID context, innovative clinical research and biopharmaceutical industry development, breast cancer precision diagnosis, as well as investment empowerment to accelerate innovation.

At the meeting, MCampus based on the Metabolic Management Center (MMC), initiated by Ning Guang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, was launched as a strategic collaboration between the Wuxi High-tech Industrial Development Zone, Zhizhong Healthcare, and AstraZeneca.

Serving as an open ecosystem for clinical and industrial integration, the MCampus plans to bring in and nurture 50 companies, recruit 500 high-end professionals from different fields, launch 50 products, generate product sales of 2.5 billion yuan (US$370 million), and create five new listed companies in the next five years, according to AstraZeneca.

To further promote the innovative development of Wuxi's biopharmaceutical and healthcare industry, AstraZeneca and the Wuxi municipal government have also launched the Wuxi iCampus Phase-III project. Covering an area of 25,720 square meters, it will provide offices, headquarters, and public service facilities for biopharmaceutical, medical devices, and specialty food companies.

At the meeting, the biopharmaceutical giant reached a series of cooperation agreements with innovative Chinese companies to take important steps in accessibility, digital application, innovative payment and industrial ecosystem exploration of innovative drugs and therapies, to benefit primary healthcare institutions.

AstraZeneca also held two roadshows on respiratory and oncological diseases, aiming to build a platform for presentation, communication and cooperation to encourage the delivery of advanced technologies, learn about the needs of innovative enterprises, gain insight into the pain points of the clinical end, and understand the essence of policies.

Two sub-forums on digital transformation and chronic disease management at the primary healthcare institutions were held, where partners and experts shared their expertise and discussed cutting-edge industry advances, technology applications and patient needs.

"As one of the most trustworthy healthcare partners in China, AstraZeneca pioneered the concept of innovation healthcare ecosystem," said Leon Wang, executive vice president, international and China president of AstraZeneca. "Since then, we have continued to expand the innovation ecosystem with our extensive resources and expertise, and have achieved significant growth."

He said the company will further deepen its innovation strategy in China by building a platform for cross-sector exchange and cooperation among government, industry, academia, research institutions, and medical and investment sectors.

By joining hands with all partners to explore innovative healthcare models and whole-course solutions, AstraZeneca aims to provide patients with better healthcare resources and services as well as contribute to Healthy China 2030, he added.

During the Taihu Bay Future Healthcare Conference on Thursday, AstraZeneca announced its strategic partnership with WuXi Biologics on local production of Evusheld long-acting antibody combination for pre-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19, marking another key development after Evusheld was put into pilot use in Boao under preferential policies of the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone in July 2022.

The company said the partnership is a strong proof of AstraZeneca's long-term "in China, for China" commitment as the company continuously increases investment in China, and introduces global healthcare innovations to benefit Chinese patients.

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