Yu Mingde, president of China Pharmaceutical Enterprises Association, speaks at the Fall Symposium in Process Chemistry.

A high profile symposium in process chemistry which opened on Sunday has brought together top industrial and academic experts in the field to Tianjin Economic Development Area (TEDA). Outsourced research and services in the biomedicine industry is the focus of the symposium.

Yu Mingde, president of China Pharmaceutical Enterprises Association, said medicine outsourcing is a vibrant and rising industry and strengthening basic research on innovations as well as upgrading the system of quality certification are tasks of top priority.

He noted strengthening work on Contract Research Organization (CRO) and Contract Manufacturing Organization (CMO) will promote international cooperation in pharmaceutical innovations and help the Chinese biomedicine industry integrate with the world’s market.

CROs offer clients a wide range of outsourced pharmaceutical research services to aid in drug and medical device research and the development process.

Outsourcing has been particularly important in the medicine industry as the success of a large pharmaceutical company depends on competence in fields such as combinatorial chemistry and marketing medicines directly to consumers, according to experts.

The biomedicine industry in TEDA has been growing in momentum in recent years and is positioned as a pillar industry for its economy by local government. Local officials expect the symposium to open a broader international market for local pharmaceutical enterprises.

The three-day event is hosted by the TEDA Administrative Committee and Asymchem Life Science (Tianjin) Co, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Asymchem Laboratories Inc.

"The symposium will showcase new developments in the process field and provide a forum of discussion as to the state of the API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient ) contract R&D and manufacturing business in China," Dr Hao Hong, President and CEO of Asymchem Tianjin, said.

In the next two days, top executives and experts from pharmacy giants and research institutes including Merck, Pfizer, Roche, Lilly, University of Wisconsin and University of Liverpool will exchange ideas on new technologies in pharmacy research, among others, and discuss prospects of the medical chemistry.

By Guo Changdong