Yangzhou, a vibrant city that blends ancient heritage with modern vitality, is accelerating toward new heights of innovation-driven development with its biomedical industry as a key engine. Leveraging its profound cultural heritage and increasingly robust industrial ecosystem, Yangzhou has hosted the Biomedical Industry Innovation and Development Conference for consecutive years, serving as an important bridge connecting cutting-edge technology with regional economy.

On April 24, the "2026 Yangzhou Biomedical Industry Innovation and Development Conference" sets sail once again. This conference is hosted by the Yangzhou Municipal People's Government and organized by the Hanjiang District People's Government of Yangzhou, Yangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, and Yangzhou High-tech Industrial Development Zone, with professional planning by TONACEA. This marks the fifth consecutive time that TONACEA has served as the professional planner for the Yangzhou Biomedical Industry Innovation and Development Conference.

Under the theme "Deepening Win-Win Cooperation, Strengthening the Pharmaceutical Industry," the conference will feature four thematic sessions: Frontier Technologies & Innovative Drug/Device Development; Nucleic Acid Drug Industry Innovation & Development; New Opportunities for Antibody Drugs; and GLP-1 Drugs & AI-Driven Transformation. Numerous leaders and innovation pioneers from the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries have been invited to share insights, deeply explore the logic behind industry transformation, seize strategic opportunities brought by breakthroughs in innovative drugs/devices and AI technologies, promote enterprise win-win collaboration, and drive high-quality industry development.

Zhao Jianguo

Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Jiangsu Provincial Association for Science and Technology

As a key part of a major economic province, Yangzhou is developing new productive forces tailored to local conditions with an uplifting spirit of "leading the way and setting an example." After years of dedicated cultivation, the Yangzhou Bio-Health Industrial Park has maintained an annual growth rate of over 30% in industrial scale, rapidly establishing itself among the top tier of the national biomedical industry. The Provincial Association for Science and Technology will, as always, fully support Yangzhou's development, actively introducing high-level innovation resources and talent from both national and provincial levels, providing more solid technological and talent support for Yangzhou's high-quality development.

Chen Heping

Deputy Director of Jiangsu Provincial Medical Products Administration

Biomedicine is a key industry in Jiangsu Province, which has received strong attention from the Provincial Party Committee and Government. In 2025, Jiangsu saw 17 innovative drugs approved for market, accounting for 22.37% of the national total. The number of Class III and Class II medical devices also ranked among the top in the country. The Provincial Medical Products Administration has continuously deepened reforms and provided targeted services, supporting the establishment of an evaluation and inspection sub-center in Yangzhou, which has efficiently processed over a thousand applications. Going forward, we will strengthen policy support, decentralize resources, and innovate services to drive high-quality development of the biomedical industry in Yangzhou and across Jiangsu Province.

Zheng Haitao

Mayor of Yangzhou Municipal People's Government

The biomedical industry is the core sector of the life and health industry that Yangzhou prioritizes for cultivation. With Yangzhou High-tech Zone Bio-Health Industrial Park as our main base, we are making every effort to build four synergistic sectors: chemical drugs, biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, and professional services. We have cultivated listed companies such as Aidea and Lianhuan, with sustained innovation vitality and steadily improving industrial competitiveness.

The "Yangzhou Biomedical Industry Innovation and Development Conference" has been held for multiple consecutive years and has become an important window showcasing the development of our city's biomedical industry. We sincerely hope that all distinguished guests will exchange ideas, gather insights, build consensus through discussions, and deepen cooperation and achieve results through networking and negotiation. We truly welcome everyone to visit Yangzhou, learn more about Yangzhou, invest in Yangzhou, and become the "best partners" in the high-quality development of Yangzhou's biomedical industry.

The pharmaceutical industry is currently entering a development phase characterized by "innovation-driven + policy optimization." The 2026 government work report designated biomedicine as an emerging pillar industry for the first time. Policies such as drug pricing mechanisms, national reimbursement negotiations, and the "anti-involution" initiative in centralized procurement continue to support genuine innovation.

Long-term care insurance is expected to become a nationwide trend, with future annual premiums potentially exceeding RMB 100 billion. Commercial health insurance is poised to unlock hundreds of billions of RMB in payments for innovative drugs and devices.

Innovative drugs, CXO, medical devices, and AI-powered healthcare are now entering a harvest period for innovation and global expansion.

Insilico Medicine leverages generative AI platforms (PandaOmics, Chemistry42, etc.) to conduct end-to-end drug R&D from target discovery to clinical validation. Its lead pipeline asset, INS018_055 (a TNIK inhibitor), is the world's first anti-idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) drug discovered by AI—from novel target identification to molecule generation. It has completed Phase IIA clinical trials in China and is expected to enter Phase III this year.

The company has built a proprietary pipeline of approximately 30 assets, with total external collaboration contract value exceeding US$7.5 billion. By 2025, Insilico had achieved over US$205 million in revenue, validating the commercial value and clinical translational capability of AI-powered drug development.

Tumor cell lineage plasticity is a key mechanism driving drug resistance. The company's core product, Tinengotinib, inhibits both the FGFR and JAK pathways, reversing lineage plasticity and restoring sensitivity to hormonal therapies. In prostate and breast cancers, Tinengotinib as monotherapy or in combination with novel endocrine therapies has demonstrated significant efficacy in reversing drug resistance.

For cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer), Tinengotinib is the world's first and only next-generation FGFR inhibitor currently in registrational clinical trials, effectively overcoming acquired resistance to existing FGFR inhibitors. Its New Drug Application (NDA) in China has been accepted for review.

Ecnoglutide, developed by Sciwind Biosciences, is the world's first approved cAMP-biased GLP-1 receptor agonist. Leveraging a GPCR-biased signaling mechanism, it selectively activates the cAMP pathway while reducing β-arrestin recruitment, thereby decreasing receptor desensitization and internalization. This results in enhanced weight loss and blood glucose reduction efficacy, while minimizing gastrointestinal adverse effects.

Phase III clinical data have demonstrated that Ecnoglutide outperforms semaglutide in weight loss efficacy. In 2026, its weight management indication received approval in China, and the company has entered into commercial partnerships, including with Pfizer.

For biotechs seeking partnership with MNCs, a five-step approach is recommended: conduct a thorough self-assessment; study MNC strategies and their patent cliffs; screen target partners; build scientific trust through academic conferences and other channels; and ultimately achieve win-win collaboration.

MNCs are strategically focusing on areas such as oncology, metabolism, immunology, neuroscience, and CGT. The core of successful collaboration lies in precise alignment with pipeline gaps, supported by robust data. Biotechs should engage early with global decision-making teams, carefully manage IP and rights balance, and leverage professional advisors to maximize global value.

HanBio Technology utilizes AI-assisted structural engineering to design a differentiated SIRPα-Fc fusion protein, HCB101. Through molecular modification, this candidate achieves tumor selectivity: it binds with high affinity to CD47 on tumor cells while avoiding binding to normal cells such as red blood cells, thereby enhancing efficacy and ensuring safety.

In Phase I monotherapy study, HCB101 was well tolerated at doses up to 36 mg/kg, with partial responses observed in head and neck cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In combination therapy, the objective response rate (ORR) reached 80% in second-line gastric cancer, with significant tumor reduction.

Roundtable Dialogue

Moderator:

• Huang Xueying – Chairman, Suzhou Sepax Technologies

Participants:

• Zhang Jiangli – Chairman, Jiangsu New Horizon Health

• Niu Ben – General Manager, Jiangsu Lianhuan Pharmaceutical

• Wang Guoping – General Manager, Yangzhou Oruite Pharmaceutical

• Mo Qiang – General Manager, Jiangsu Kelun Pharmaceutical

Yangzhou's biomedical industry has developed a significant innovation ecosystem supported by strong policy backing. The government provides dedicated "task force" and "concierge-style" services, enabling rapid approvals and outstanding efficiency in enterprise establishment. Large-scale population screening projects not only serve public health but also help companies accumulate high-quality data, supporting the development of national expert consensus and publications in core journals.

On the funding front, patient capital and translational funds have effectively alleviated the pressure of the long and capital-intensive R&D cycle for innovative drugs. Talent recruitment has yielded notable results, with more than half of the PhDs recruited by one company having purchased homes and settled in the city, forming stable teams. On the industrial ecosystem front, leading enterprises, universities, and hospital technology transfer centers are increasingly connecting, creating a synergistic force from R&D to application. Differentiated competition and intelligent manufacturing are also being gradually implemented, driving the industry's continuous upgrade from "1 to N."

The integration of next-generation information technology and intelligent manufacturing is driving the transformation of traditional industries. Health service models are shifting from "disease-centered" to "health-centered," with intelligent population health management emerging as a new trend. Significant progress has been made in the R&D of targeted conjugated drugs, in situ neural regeneration for brain repair, scar repair, and other innovative therapeutics, offering new hope for difficult-to-treat diseases.

On the technology platform front, gene data-driven precision drug R&D, new drug screening models combining organoids and AI, and globalization pathways for life science tools have become key areas of focus. During the roundtable dialogue, participants engaged in in-depth discussions on the opportunities and challenges for drug and device innovation amidst the wave of frontier technology. There was broad consensus that cross-sector collaboration and industrial AI deployment will accelerate industry transformation.

Broad attention was given to novel lipid nanoparticle nucleic acid delivery systems, chimeric nucleic acid drugs for targeted protein degradation, and non-clinical study strategies for antibody nucleic acid conjugates. Significant progress has been made in the clinical translation of siRNA drugs. Breakthroughs in extrahepatic delivery platform technologies are expanding the application space of oligonucleotide drugs in the treatment of chronic diseases.

In addition, areas such as LNP-mRNA-mediated in vivo CAR-T technology, key considerations in nucleic acid vaccine development, and lipid nanoparticle targeted delivery systems have also demonstrated strong R&D vitality.

The session focused on the next-generation technology landscape for oligonucleotide drugs, emphasizing that delivery, stability, and targeting are the core bottlenecks to industrialization. Multiple speakers noted that efforts must be made across fundamental research, process development, and capital collaboration to build a self-controlled industrial chain system.

On the eve of the conference, the "High-Level Collaboration: University-Enterprise Two-Way Engagement" Yangzhou Biopharma Professionals Exchange and Jiangsu Education-Industry Dialogue & Matchmaking Event was successfully held at the Hehuachi Campus of Yangzhou University. The event was hosted by Yangzhou University and Yangzhou High-tech Industrial Development Zone, with co-organizers including the School of Chemistry and Materials, the School of Veterinary Medicine, the School of Biological Science and Technology, the Faculty of Medicine of Yangzhou University, and TONACEA.

Under the theme "Gathering Wisdom in Yangzhou, Innovating for the Future," the event aimed to showcase the research and talent resources of Yangzhou University in the biopharmaceutical field, build precise bridges for university-enterprise collaboration, and facilitate the translation of scientific and technological achievements into industrial demand-driven applications.

 

Zhao Wenming, Vice President of Yangzhou University; Zhang Chuanbo, Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Yangzhou High-tech Zone; and Ge Haiyan, Fourth-Level Researcher of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education, delivered speeches, interpreting industrial policies and the local business environment. The Faculty of Medicine, School of Biological Science and Technology, School of Veterinary Medicine, and School of Chemistry and Materials of Yangzhou University shared academic resources in clinical translation, biopharmaceuticals, veterinary medicine, and chemical pharmaceuticals. During the roundtable dialogue, representatives from enterprises and universities exchanged insights on technical challenges and talent collaboration needs, while industry associations and investment institutions shared trends and directions for capital support, aiming to deepen university-local government and university-enterprise cooperation.