2026 Zhangjiang Medicine Valley Conference opens in Shanghai, 59 innovative drugs have been approved for marketing

China News Service, Shanghai, September 17 (Reporter Zheng Yingying) The 2026 Zhangjiang Pharmaceutical Valley Conference and Shanghai International Biopharmaceutical Industry Week opened in Shanghai on the 17th.

Yang Sheng, deputy director of the National Medical Products Administration of China, said at the meeting that since the beginning of this year, the growth momentum of China's innovative drug approvals for marketing has not diminished, and 59 innovative drugs have been approved for marketing so far.

Data shows that as of September 4, 6 domestic Class 1 innovative drugs have been approved for marketing in Shanghai. From January to August this year, the output value of Shanghai's biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry reached 138.165 billion yuan.

AI's reshaping of the drug research and development model is currently attracting much attention. In Zhangjiang Medicine Valley, located in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area, AI has “calculated” new drug molecules in a few months, and innovative drugs are accelerating their global reach.

Li Zheng, member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and Secretary of the Pudong New Area Party Committee, said at the opening ceremony that artificial intelligence has profoundly changed every aspect of drug discovery, target verification, clinical trials, precision medicine, and biomanufacturing. AI not only brings about tool changes, but also brings about the reconstruction of R&D paradigms.

As one of the innovative pharmaceutical companies taking root in Zhangjiang, Chi-Med launched its AI drug design layout at the end of last year. Its senior vice president Tang Fei said in an interview that traditional drug research and development relies more on "Drug Discovery", which is to continuously screen a large number of candidate molecules to find a few molecules that may be successful. With the introduction of AI technology, relevant R&D is gradually transforming into "Drug Design", which is to predict and design based on the key attributes required for target drugs, thereby accelerating R&D iterations.

The British Bioindustry Association brings together various entities such as multinational pharmaceutical companies and AI drug research and development companies. Jane Wall, managing director of the association, said at the meeting that China’s development strength is not only reflected in speed and size, but also in innovation capabilities and technological progress. She looks forward to more cooperation between Britain and China to benefit each other's industrial ecology.