A dual gateway for accelerating North Carolina-China innovation
Rick Williams, left, and William Greenlee, chief execuitve officer of The Hamner Institutes, in front of China's Medical City complex. (Photo courtesy The Hamner Institutes)
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By Rick Williams, special to Local Tech Wire
Editor’s note: Rick Williams is chief business officer at The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. - Biotechnology is going through its second major wave of innovation. North Carolina must continue to identify new ways to remain a leader in the bioscience field while taking advantage of its Research Triangle Park (RTP) “brand,” preeminent research institutions, and cluster of commercialization and service companies.
The recent North Carolina trade delegation to China, led by Governor Bev Perdue, provided a timely opportunity for the state to leverage its formidable strengths in technology-driven economic development. Governor Perdue’s visit led to meetings with senior-level officials in the central government who expressed support for building a North Carolina-China science and technology gateway, starting with bioscience and expanding to other fields such as clean energy.
The first wave of biotech innovation in the 1980s and 1990s focused on replacement proteins—such as human insulin, t-PA for heart attacks, erythropoietin for anemia—and monoclonal antibodies for cancer and inflammatory conditions. The second wave of innovation is now addressing cell and gene therapy, regenerative medicine, biomedical engineering, personalized treatment, drug safety, botanical medicine, etc. Companies in California and Massachusetts (like Genentech, Amgen, Chiron, and Biogen) precipitated the first revolution with support from North Carolina, which has become the number three biotech state in the U.S.; China is uniquely positioned to be a leader in this second broader revolution as genomics and new bioscience technologies are being applied to address unmet medical needs.
Today’s bioscience innovations require development of strategies that capture scientific discoveries and, quickly and cost effectively, translate them into commercial reality. Yet the large multinational corporations have struggled in their quest to industrialize bioscience and the creative process. Safety problems, like landmines lurking on the path to a product’s success, must be identified early to avoid downstream market withdrawals. Efficacy should be validated earlier. The exponential growth in R&D expenses cannot continue unabated.
Major bio/pharma companies are turning to universities, research institutions, and start-ups to expedite safe, “bench to bedside” research that improves patient well-being. Novel approaches to building collaborations between academic research organizations and industry, known as “public-private partnerships,” are being explored. At the same time, countries like the U.S. and China are looking for new ways to work together to provide solutions.
The “dual gateway model” is an innovative approach to establishing partnerships between science parks, research organizations, and bioscience companies in North Carolina and China. Developed by The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences at RTP, in conjunction with the North Carolina Department of Commerce, this win-win model has led to creation of the Hamner-China Medical City Institute for International Drug Development, a new research partnership with the Shanghai Center for Disease Control (initially focused on multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis), and a U.S. beach head for Newsummit Biopharma, a biotech company in Shanghai, during the past year.
A three-week series of meetings held throughout China last month culminated in the signing of another half-dozen Hamner agreements that will foster additional translational research and business development collaborations. As China takes the next steps to become a world leader in biotechnology, it is looking to industry experts in North Carolina for their guidance and cooperation.
Through the “dual gateway model,” innovation in bioscience can be enhanced by exchanging knowledge, resources, and technologies between North Carolina and China. For example, after The Hamner Institutes at RTP and its partners in China identify promising scientific opportunities together, they develop new programs, using a drug safety and genomics platform, and work with commercial and education/training experts to capitalize on the results. Organizations like the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and the China National Center for Biotechnology Development lend their support as universities, companies, and government agencies come together to accelerate commercialization by sharing experiences, mitigating risk, and reaping mutual rewards.
In the middle of its eleventh five-year plan, and strategically investing billions of dollars, China has built a strong infrastructure for technology, especially with its network of 54 mega science parks. It also has an extensive scientific heritage and was a leader centuries ago in key technological fields (moveable printing press, the compass, gunpowder, suspension bridges, smallpox vaccination, etc.) that only became known to the West in recent years.
China has remarkable “hardware” (buildings, equipment, information and transportation networks, etc.) and abundant “basic software” (1.3 billion people). However, some believe that China lacks sufficient “advanced software” and “peripherals.” As a partner with China, North Carolina has offered to supply the “advanced software” with its plethora of experts in emerging new technologies, translational research, drug and device product development, and entrepreneurism. North Carolina will also be providing access to training in regulatory standards, work force education, and management principles to address China’s need for improved “peripherals” to support its infrastructure and human capital.
The Hamner Institutes at RTP, as an independent catalyst, is collaborating with the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, and North Carolina’s universities and community colleges, along with experienced entrepreneurs and drug-development consultants, to build “a bridge of technological innovation” with China. As North Carolina develops stronger scientific and business partnerships with China, it will increase Chinese investments into the state today and create an abundance of new jobs for North Carolina’s citizens tomorrow.
For more information, please visit The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences web site at www.thehamner.org or call (919) 558-1200.
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