Biotech event helps build bridges for innovation

International pharmaceutical leaders and investors gathered in San Francisco to explore business opportunities with Chinese biotech companies, as the country's partnership deals exceeded $130 billion last year and contributed to 30 percent of new drugs currently in development worldwide.

Organized by the Zhongguancun FIC Innovative Drug Strategic Development Alliance, the 2026 China FIC Innovation and Collaboration Summit showcased new and ongoing pharmaceutical innovations from China. FIC stands for "First-in-Class". The Sunday event also aimed to connect Chinese companies with global industry leaders and multinational investors.

"Our journey — from the humble 'Me-Too' and 'Me-Better' to the transformative 'First-in-Class' — tells a story not just of scientific progress, but of an entirely new ecosystem and a transformed model of global partnership," said the director-general of Beijing Investment Promotion Service Center during the summit.

She called the event a "vital two-way bridge" that showcases the country's potential to the world while connecting global expertise with innovators, and said the momentum for China's pharmaceutical sector stems from several factors.

China's massive unified market, with over 1.4 billion people and healthcare coverage for 1.33 billion citizens, provides unparalleled scale for clinical development and the commercialization of new medicines, the director-general explained.

Despite headwinds facing globalization and rising protectionism, Chinese Consul General in San Francisco Zhang Jianmin said that economic interdependence remains a global reality and international collaboration remains essential for finding global solutions.

"The biopharmaceutical sector is a case in point, because this sector depends so much on global supply chains, cross-border clinical research, data sharing and the spirit of working together among scientists and innovators from around the world," Zhang said.

California State Treasurer Fiona Ma echoed this collaborative vision, highlighting the importance of using technology to accelerate research and improve health outcomes. She said that California voters have consistently prioritized healthcare through statewide initiatives, approving bonds for stem cell research, children's hospitals and behavioral health services.

"So, we have a lot of money now. We are investing in all of these areas. That's why we welcome the partnerships. We should not be doing research and development in our silos now. With the internet, with AI capabilities, we are better able to share our research," Ma said, "and that will expedite discoveries, increase people's health and longevity".

The summit highlighted China's decadelong transformation in pharmaceutical innovation. While the country's research and development for new drugs has experienced explosive growth and become integral to the global industry, with 2025's cross-border licensing value projected to double from the previous year, only a small percentage of China's new drugs being developed have been involved in these transactions, pointing to untapped potential for collaboration.

The ZFIC Alliance designed the summit to address this gap by creating a platform that connects international pharmaceutical companies, investment institutions and Chinese biotech enterprises. Nine representative projects were selected from nearly 30 applicants for in-person pitching sessions. They spanned multiple cutting-edge fields and were designed to enhance international visibility and collaboration potential.