The production scene of North China Pharmaceutical Jintan Biotechnology Co., Ltd. taken on May 10. (This newspaper's information film) Hebei ** reporter Shi Shengquan photographed.
Although they are both biopharmaceuticals, Lao Hua Yao and Xinhua Medicine are very different!On December 9, when the reporter rushed to Huzhou, Zhejiang, more than 1,000 kilometers away, and saw Hu Jiaoping, an old man who had participated in the construction of Chinese medicine, the 91-year-old was very excited.
Many people may not know that Huayao, known as the "eldest son of the Republic of Medicine", has been a biomedical company since its birth in 1953. On May 12 this year, the first general secretary inspected the planning exhibition hall of Shijiazhuang International Biomedical Park, and Huayao was at the first booth. In the exhibition hall, the general secretary emphasized: "The lifeblood of the development of the biomedical industry is firmly in our own hands. ”
70 years of vicissitudes. Xinhua Medicine, where is the new?
On December 22, in Shijiazhuang, the reporter continued to ask Hu Weiguo, the son of the old man Hu Jiaoping and the president of the North China Pharmaceutical Research Institute, for answers. "The place has changed, the factory has changed, the product has changed, it's these, it's not all of it. He smiled and asked the reporter, "After interviewing these days, where do you say it's new?"”
New in the variety?
What products best represent Chinese medicine?Father and son have different answers to the same question.
Penicillin, of course!Old man Hu Jiaoping blurted out. Penicillin is produced by microbial fermentation, and Huayao produced the first batch of penicillin in China in the 50s of the last century, which reduced the drug of Guibi to a few cents. With this "one trick", Huayao has become the largest antibiotic production base in Asia, with 1 in every 7 antibiotics in the country. His father, Hu Xiaoxin, was the beneficiary, and in the sixties and seventies of the last century, he sent life-saving medicines back to his hometown in Ninghai, Zhejiang, bringing hope to the elderly suffering from old lung disease.
But in the eyes of his 53-year-old son Hu Weiguo, from a difficult medicine to a dazzling variety, the varieties of biomedicine have already undergone fundamental changes. "At present, Chinese medicine has developed from antibiotic-based to a large-scale modern biomedical enterprise covering anti-infection, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular, immune regulation and other fields, with a total of more than 700 specifications. He gushed about it.
In the 90s of the last century, the good days of relying on penicillin as a variety to "lie down and win" came to an end. You drop a dime, I drop a dime, the war is intensifying, and the profits of Huayao are falling off a cliff. Transformation is imminent, and Huayao has set its sights on modern biomedicine. First, the biomedical technology accumulated over the years can highlight the advantages, and more importantly, in the long run, biomedicine has a lot to offer.
In April 1998, Huayao resolutely invested 300 million yuan in the Jintan project. Jintan is a transliteration of gene technology (genetech). This was the largest and most technologically advanced biotechnology drug industrialization base in China at that time. However, the road to Jintan has not been smooth, with continuous losses. After 6 years of loss, Huayao made up for 6 years, gritted its teeth and survived, and finally entered the new track of biomedicine, and now Jintan has become a big profit.
Jintan, Huamin, new preparation ......In 2017, when Lao Hua Yao stopped production and relocated, a modern biomedical Xinhua Medicine had already risen. At present, the business of Chinese medicine has changed from raw materials to pharmaceutical preparations, and biotechnology drugs contribute to profits.
Nowadays, every pharmaceutical company has a dense number of biomedical varieties 'new', and if you only look at this item, it is difficult to represent the newness of Chinese medicine. Hu Weiguo said.
What's new in technology?
In the exhibition area of Chinese medicine industry culture, a bulky cast iron shaker is particularly conspicuous. In 1958, it was on this shaker that the first penicillin strain for production in China was selected and bred.
At that time, if you wanted to use strains, you had to import them from the Soviet Union, which was not only low in potency, but also high in efficiency. "Huayao must breed its own strains!"After trying again and again, step by step, they finally broke the foreign monopoly and ended the history of China's dependence on imports of penicillin and streptomycin.
Unforgettable!The key core technology is not to come, to buy, or to buy. Hu Jiaoping's tone was heavy but firm.
Today, although it is still biomedicine, the technology has long been different. Hu Weiguo introduced that we have four national innovation platforms, including the National Engineering Research Center for Microbial Drugs, the State Key Laboratory of Antibody Drug Development, and the National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Antibiotic Enzyme Catalysis and Crystallization, as well as a large number of cutting-edge technologies such as high-throughput screening, gene editing, and AI technology. Technology continues to iterate, only for one purpose: to develop more "Chinese medicines" suitable for the genetic inheritance and physical fitness characteristics of Chinese.
In Huayao, if you ask about biological drugs, people will definitely tell you about omutevimab injection. This is the first national new drug independently developed by Huayao, which has been used for 17 years. Starting from a rabies virus antibody gene sequence, the scientific research team worked day and night to break through technical barriers by relying on independent innovation to develop China's first recombinant fully human anti-rabies virus monoclonal antibody.
There are many more such examples. For example, the recombinant hepatitis B vaccine is a new national drug with independent intellectual property rights, which has made a significant contribution to taking off the hat of a big country for hepatitis BThe immune agent cyclosporine breaks the long-term dependence on imports of immunosuppressants for organ transplantation. Over the years, Huayao has won a total of 5 National Technological Invention Awards and 21 National Science and Technology Progress Awards.
However, in Hu Weiguo's view, it is difficult to maintain a leading position forever by relying on one technology, and only by continuing to innovate in key core technologies can there be endless new products and new technologies, and can we continue to inject new momentum into Xinhua Medicine.
New in the path?
Sending the scientific research team to the "national team" innovation platform has become a new fashion for Chinese medicine.
Recently, in the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Tianjin, in a steaming atmosphere, the two sides are giving birth to the "new dream" of synthetic biology together. "Every minute counts. Sitting around the table are the industry's "big names" and returnee doctors, and the sparks of innovation are flying.
Shared kitchens, shared chefs, and cooperative development have become the "source of innovation" for Chinese medicine. "Industrial strains are biofabricated 'chips', and with an advanced industrial strain, it may be a future single champion. Hu Weiguo is full of expectations.
When the factory was built, there was only one way, that is, to rely on the assistance of Soviet experts, and now there are more and more ways of cooperation, so that innovation is like a tiger with wings. This new change made Hu Jiaoping can't help but praise it.
Huayao's "circle of friends" has expanded from technology to industrial chain, from domestic to foreign. Jointly build a national innovation platform with Tsinghua University, and cooperate with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, Tianjin University, Zhejiang University, Jiangnan University, etc. to solve the problem of "stuck neck".Carry out in-depth cooperation with internationally renowned enterprises, focusing on promoting the development of biotechnology.
Open cooperation can empower enterprise innovation, but the key is to rely on independent innovation. It is certain that it is definitely not only the growing 'circle of friends' that determines the newness of Chinese medicine. Hu Weiguo was deeply touched.
New in the mind!
Xinhua Medicine, where is the new one?"In my opinion, variety, technology, path, these are all important, but more important, it is new in the mind. Hu Weiguo thought again and again.
This is Hu Weiguo's answer, and it is also the reporter's deep feeling: the root of the change of Chinese medicine lies in the change of thinking.
Huayao, which started from penicillin, did not regard the traditional industry as a burden, but innovated the way of thinking, sought new changes on the basis of the old industry, and developed into an emerging industry step by stepAlways adhere to independent innovation, open cooperation, and strive to explore cutting-edge technologies, and the future industry "ahead" development.
After experiencing the pain of transformation, Hu Weiguo understands better: "Adhere to innovation and development, and traditional industries can also form new quality productivity." ”
In today's world, the biomedical industry is surging. Behind the seemingly calm pharmaceutical market, a battle is raging. Don't underestimate biomedicine, it is a strategic emerging industry, related to human life and health, and it is a key core area for China to promote high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-reliance. Looking at the world, pharmaceutical giants such as Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Roche are stepping up the deployment of key technologies such as AI pharmaceuticals and biomanufacturing, and accelerating the pace of digitalization and intelligence of biomedicine.
Huayao has once again come to the critical moment of climbing the slope. "Emancipating the mind and driving innovation is the magic weapon to win in the field of biomedicine. Hu Weiguo firmly believes that disruptive technology is a "strategic battle" field to achieve a new leap, and it cannot be delayed for a minute. Now, he and his R&D team are racing against time to carry out cutting-edge research and development of innovative biological drugs such as new vaccines, antibodies, and cytokines, transforming traditional industries with digital intelligence technology and green technology, and cultivating new "nuclear explosion points".
It was difficult to break through, but Hu Weiguo was not discouraged: "We must speed up the run and strive to climb the 'Everest' of biomedicine, just like when we created a new era of industrial production of antibiotics, only in this way can we 'firmly grasp the lifeblood of the development of the biomedical industry in our own hands'." ”
A ray of warm sunshine sprinkled into the small courtyard in the south of the Yangtze River, and the golden grapefruit hung heavily on the branches, Hu Jiaoping picked one and gave it to the reporter: "This tree has been growing here for decades, you see, it is still leafy and fruitful." (Hebei ** reporter Zhang Wenjun Zhou Jie).