On June 26, the2023 First Board Meeting of the Ministry of Education-Shanghai Collaborative Innovation Center for Biomedical Clinical Research and Translation(hereinafter referred to as the Center) was successfully held in the Fontainebleau Room of the Science Hall. Experts attending this meeting include Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Professor Ding Jian of the School of Pharmacy, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and members of the Center’s Council. Professor Fan Xianqun, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Chancellor of SJTUSM attended the meeting as the leader of the supporting unit to deliver congratulations and speeches. The meeting was hosted by Professor Zhou Binbing, Director of the Center.
Fan Xianqun, on behalf of the Center's supporting units, thanked all the directors present at the opening stage of the meeting. He remarked on the support and attention provided by the school during the construction of the center. He also emphasized the Center’s role in the development of the pharmacy discipline of SJTU and congratulated the results achieved by the Center's ten years of growth. The future development will continue to gain attention and support. Fan hopes that the Center can build its own platform with characteristics, take the development of pharmaceutical disciplines as the major direction, and play a crucial role in bridging gaps between clinical medicine and basic medicine.
Director Zhou Binbing introduced the Center in detail. He presented his report from three aspects: the Center's current situation and practical needs, landmark achievements, and future development plans. He proposed the development concept of “aggregation, adaptability, innovation, and win-win”. The development will focus on original innovative research based on clinical value, a national-level new drug clinical research demonstration platform, the new model of integration of industry and medicine, and the new mechanism for matching the needs of hospitals and enterprises. The purpose is to create a new model of biomedical clinical research and translation. The Center will be built as a platform for biomedical talents and a highland of innovation.
Professor Sun Xiaodong, Professor Li Xia, and Professor Li Ziming introduced the center’s latest developments. They represented the ophthalmic drug clinical trial platform, psychotropic drug clinical trial platform, and lung cancer drug clinical trial platform respectively. They explained the advantages and shortcomings of their respective fields to the directors present. They hope that this board meeting will enhance in-depth communication and strengthen the Center’s role in bridging gaps.
During the discussion session, the directors offered their suggestions. Director Ke Ying of Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding Co., Ltd. declared that basic clinical research requires innovation, but they should not rush for success. Instead, they should avoid impetuous mentality and keep a down-to-earth attitude. Companies and basic research should connect and cooperate closely so that more efforts can be made to better meet clinical needs. Fu Daxu, President of the Shanghai Institute of Biomedical Pharmaceutical Technologies, mentioned that drug R&D is a long-term accumulation process with high investment risks. It is necessary to mobilize doctors and improve the benefits of researchers of translational science. Cao Yueqiong, Chairman of Shanghai Genechem Co., Ltd., said that the industrial chain of new drugs requires professionals from all aspects to perform their duties to form a scale in the future. Qian Biyun, Director of the Clinical Research Promotion and Development Center of Shanghai Shenkang Hospital Development Center, declared that the Center has a solid foundation of the advantages of the school and good conditions for talent training. The future development direction of the Center is what needs to be decided urgently. Liu Binglong, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Pharmaceutical Association, declared that the Center may combine macro and micro methods to put forward guiding suggestions, assist enterprise development, as well as strengthen clinical translation and application research.
Academician Ding Jian made a concluding speech as the council chairman, pointing out that the Center should locate the correct positioning, integrate the strengths of enterprises and hospitals, provide unique services for clinical research, enhance influence by holding themed academic conferences, enhance the communication between enterprises and hospital, and increase the support of enterprise-level and national-level project funds. He emphasized the two-way feature of transformation and collaboration. The current biopharmaceutical industry lacks originality and interaction, which should be the starting point of future transformation. The Center’s board members will make every effort to achieve biomedicine transformation with characteristics of China and the times.
Closing the meeting, Director Lu Zhen of the Science and Technology Development Center of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission spoke on behalf of the superior authorities and put forward construction requirements: first, strengthen discipline construction and talent training; second, explore collaborative innovation paths; third, assist the development of the biopharmaceutical industry through the construction of the Center, and produce economic and social benefits. It is hoped that in future construction, the Center will locate a positioning more accurately and promote the transformation of scientific research results more efficiently.
